The barbaric practice of female genital mutilation, which is a traditionally more than religiously based custom, has been condemned and banned in many countries. But lo and behold, parents of children from 'traditional' families will go to any length to have their children mutilated for the sake of 'chastity'.
What is increasingly odd, is that the families are choosing places that are considered to have good human rights records to actually carry out the horrible excisions.
One such place is now Scotland. Reporters have discovered that families who follow the tradition travel to Scotland to have the procedure done, because apparently, there has not been a strong record of vigorous prosecution of FGM cases there.
The British authorities, alerted to the trend, have been quick to respond that anyone who is found to be associated with or carrying out the practice, risks up to 14 years imprisonment.
Cutting, as many call the mutilation is done to ensure chastity and it 'guarantees' a better marriage prospect among practising families. In some cases the girls are also sown up until they are married.
The laws in Britain have been on the books for almost 30 years, but no one to date has been found guilty of the crime, although it is widely believed that clandestine operations carry out the gruesome excisions.
In addition, the Scottish government had passed laws that criminalized taking young girls out of the country to have the procedure done outside of Britain.
The problem as is often is with these kind of clandestine activities is that no one reports the crime, for obvious reasons.
But the problem might be deeper than it seems at first glance. The problem might also be that Scotland, fearful of offending or be seen as singling out certain minorities, has been very soft on the prosecution side of things.
A few cases in fact have been reported but not a single one has found its way to the judge's bench.
Investigators have discovered, to their dismay, that some families move to Scotland because they feel that it is a place where it is safe for them to carry out the mutilations.
One way to identify possible future victims of FGM is to order that all pregnant women be asked if they had undergone the practice. The problem is no one in the medical establishment actually strictly follows these guidelines.
The problem then, is not lack of legislative power, but the lax attitude and sanguine approach with which social services and other medical organizations insist on being 'politically' correct with minorities.
The prosecutors and social services have promised to better monitor and police the practice.
Source : BBC/ 11.15.13
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