Hey Banjo, FGM is unlike most abuses as it is a permanent disability in most circumstances? The female cannot usually ever achieve orgasm? I could well be wrong, I know little about the subject.

It would certainly be added to any query I had about why we so rarely charge adults for abuse of children. I’d consider FGM one of the most significant physical abuses out of the growing list of abuse definitions.

This not seeing the law to be done devalues all the young victims.

“...the politicians have no excuse for not upholding the laws that they passed.”

And yet they are not upheld and I’ve not seen any explanation demanded. Is that why they have enquires and commissions? Is that the only way to get answers or something but by then the govt that did it has moved on?

I think Julie that is the case.
Kids have this in flicked on them so they will not enjoy sex or stray.
Long ago I became convinced these less than men want total control because the can not keep women without collars and chains.
Banjo some links would help some just are not aware of this issue.
Side again, bit playful myself BUT an idiot at a WA football game held up a sign saying this you can shag my wife, named star footballer,now tell me why.
Feisty girls around here would rightly smack me silly for that.

I dunno about FGM. What happened to moral relativity? Do we use it selectively?

It seems to me there is a certain element of society, let's say Belly's lot, who constantly go on about cultural sensitivity and cultural identity, embracing multiculturalism etc.

Except, if there is part of the culture they don't like, then they say 'oh but not those bits'.

Well, I reckon its a job lot. Either you accept and tolerate the culture as a whole, or not at all. Anything else is hypocritical and inauthentic.

So, when you ask other cultures to stop mutilating their children, you're really asking for assimilation. Not multiculturalism. Lets call a spade a spade.

I don't know the proportion of men walking around without a foreskin, and although obviously less severe than FGM, it's in the same category. So the Jews are just as bad.

It originated from religious ritual, with a more modern justification, and I dare say anaesthetic is considered unnecessary by some.

So, if you want your multiculturalism, moral relativism, any of that gear, you MUST be pro-FGM, pro circumcision, pro chicken sacrifice rituals. There is no way around it. We must adhere to the sanctity and authenticity of cultural norms of all cultures:-)

Houlie you can do better yes I am a Labrat ask you know who.
But voting Labor or Liberal does not turn us in to one of them, meaning any group like those you put me in.
And your generalization is more likely to fit the greens but would very much fit some in any party.
As rude as it can be to be honest I insist on it here.
I thing every religion is about control.
See no reason to think the one we are skipping around here is any different if not the worst.
And that control is the reason for this mutilation.
In other threads we see very real, and very justified concerns about cruelty to cattle.
Here some, more than one, make lite of females being sold as children for sex mutilated killed because of their sex and now you think concerns Banjo aired may be are not our right to be concerned about?
Baffled bloke!

From Wikipedia:
"Medical consequenceAmong practising cultures, FGC is most commonly performed between the ages of four and eight, but can take place at any age from infancy to adolescence. Prohibition has led to FGC going underground, at times with people who have had no medical training performing the cutting without anesthetic, sterilization, or the use of proper medical instruments. The procedure can lead to death through shock from excessive bleeding. The failure to use sterile medical instruments may lead to infections.

Other serious long term health effects are also common. These include urinary and reproductive tract infections, caused by obstructed flow of urine and menstrual blood, various forms of scarring and infertility. Epidermal inclusion cysts may form and expand, particularly in procedures affecting the clitoris. These cysts can grow over time and can become infected, requiring medical attention such as drainage.[40] The first episode of sexual intercourse will often be extremely painful for infibulated women, who will need the labia majora to be opened, to allow their partner access to the vagina. This second cut, sometimes performed by the partner with a knife, can cause other complications to arise.

A June 2006 study by the WHO has cast doubt on the safety of genital cutting of any kind.[28] This study was conducted on a cohort of 28,393 women attending delivery wards at 28 obstetric centers in areas of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and The Sudan. A high proportion of these mothers had undergone FGC. According to the WHO criteria, all types of FGC were found to pose an increased risk of death to the baby (15% for Type I, 32% for Type II, and 55% for Type III). Mothers with FGC Type III were also found to be 30% more at risk for cesarean sections and had a 70% increase in postpartum hemorrhage compared to women without FGC. Estimating from these results, and doing a rough population estimate of mothers in Africa with FGC, an additional 10 to 20 per thousand babies in Africa die during delivery as a result of the mothers having undergone genital cutting.

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_cutting

Yesterday Via goggle news USA I read the New York times.
That hunger to learn still drives me.
Shame it did not at school.
However I followed a link she is only ten and may be sold as a prostitute.
It told as story of a young girl said to be on the way to an education and a future , but in grave danger, perhaps on the way, to bing sold.
By her grand father who sold her mother into sexual slavery as a child.
1.8 million children it said EVERY YEAR are sold this way.
India soon to be maybe the worlds first or second economic leader is said to be the worlds worst, that number is just for them.
I am wondering just why do we have a United Nations,why so many Gods, but we can not stop this happening.
Why we fight wars for freedom but never for human rights.
Why some made a joke out of this thread.
I would give up my freedoms to see a better world, even the dreaded new world order if it preserved these children's rights to be kids.
So sad we care more for the cattle in Indonesia than little girls in India.