Given that female circumcission (known as FGM)is against the law how come no one has yet been charged?

In October last, MLC Gordon Moyes asked, in the house, why no person had been charged for FGM, and as yet received no answer, to my knowledge.

While it is not known how many patients all hospitals treat for post FGM problems, Auburn hospital treats 40-50 per year. This is nearly one per week and Auburn has a specific unit set up for that purpose.

Therefore 500 girls have been mutilated in the past 10 years.

AS a simple medical examination can detect FGM and many victims require proper medical attention, the question has to be asked why no one has been prosicuted.

If a girl victim has been born here and no been out of Australia, the parents or guardian should be responsible. That does not seem too difficult.

If I shoot a kangaroo ilegallly or conducted a bullfight or cockfight, I would be prosecuted.

Looks like some people are immune to prosecution

The problem with trying to hold the parents responsible is that they are not, legally. On might guess that at least one of them has conspired with someone to have the mutilation done, but which one? And how do you prove it?

Similarly, one of them presumably knows about the commission of the offence itself, and since it's a "serious indictable offence", that parent is under a legal compulsion to inform the authorities, on pain of a 2 year prison sentence, but again the problem is one of proof.

If the parents refuse to discuss the matter with the authorities, it will be very difficult to obtain the required proof.

Sylvia.

Sylvia Else,
Firstly there is no doubt about the mutilation and I understand it is usually carried out on minors. Parents are responsible jointly for the welfare of their children, so I do not see a problem with proving aiding and abetting of the mutilation.

I think it is more a case of medical personel not having to report the mutilation of victims and the State Government "turning a blind eye" and this only keeps the practice on going.

I cannot think of any cultural practice more apalling.

Banjo,

The legal problem is that it must be proved, beyond reasonable doubt, that a specific person engaged in a specific unlawful act. The argument that parents are responsible for their children simply won't run in court, because it would not be proof, beyond reasonable doubt, that either the father, or the mother, or possibly both, were actively involved in the mutilation. Each could deny any knowledge. Since it is entirely possible for the mutilation to be performed by, or on behalf of, one parent without the knowledge of the other parent, at least prior to the event, it is perfectly plausible that the other parent was not involved.

You might argue that the other parent must have known after the event (and should therefore have reported it to the police), but even if you can prove that, you're still faced with the problem of not knowing which of the parents is the other parent in this context.

So you end up with a number of possibilties about which offences were committed, and by whom. Even if you've proved that each parent must have committed some offence, that's not good enough in law. You have to identify the specific offence that each parent committed.

The law could be changed to make both parents criminally liable if the child is found to have been mutilated, without actual proof of involvement. There are issues with that, and I suspect parliament would be unwilling to go that far.

Female genital mutilation is barbaric, and I would be happy to see those involved locked up for an extended period, as indeed the law provides. However, in practice, some problems are difficult to solve by legislation, and education is the way to go.

Sylvia.

I take the point on law by Sylvia, but this can be resolved through legislation. Both parents should be held equally criminally liable. An out for a parent should only be if that parent can prove, on the balance of probabilities, that there was no knowledge, prior to the event and after. Unfortunately issues like this does not on the whole catch the imagination of the population at large and therefore there is no urgency for politicians to act.

Also, criminal law is a hash in Australia. Each and every state has its own laws.

FGM in an horrendous and barbaric practice but it will never be stamped out until Muslim men refuse to marry mutilated women, and FGM is made immediate grounds for divorce.
Tough on those so mutilated but for the ultimate greater good of Muslim women...
This is also possibly an area of reconstructive surgery that could be developed.

But ultimately it is the males who can change the practice; once they can come to terms with having a relationshp with complete women.
FGM may be a cultural practice these days but it stems from male inadequacy and desire for control.

Anyone who may consider it to be a relatively harmless practice should have a good talk with an Obstectrics Sister or an experienced midwife.
Birth for many victims of FGM is an extremely painful experience, well beyond the pain associated with normal birth.

If the FGM is restricted to clitoral excission then elasticity of the vaginal area is not destroyed but if the excission includes the Labia Majorum and Labia Minorum then virtually all elasticity is severely inhibited by the resultant scar tissue.

The lack of action could be attributed to a political perception that votes might be lost, still one ought not be cynical.