We need to talk about GFM

The practice of Female Genital Mutilation is a major issue amongst certain immigrant communities in Ireland. However, activists like Ifrah Ahmed are hopeful that new legislation before the Dáil – which will make it illegal to remove a child from the State for the purposes of FGM – will put an end to the practice.

Anne Sexton, 25 Aug 2011

It is not an issue which is at the top of the liberal agenda. In fact many Irish people may barely be aware of it. And yet it is estimated that around 3,000 women in Ireland have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM).

FGM is practised across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It tends to be regionally-based in the various countries in which it is practised and varies in its levels of aggression. The age at which it is carried out also varies but the victims are often young girls. By any standards, even at its most basic, it is a barbaric tradition. Often referred to as female circumcision, in fact the practice is far more invasive than the procedure which is carried out on boys.

In the commonest form of female ‘circumcision’, the clitoris is held between the thumb and forefinger of the person carrying out the procedure, pulled out and sliced off.

Gruesome and bloody as this is, there are other more aggressive versions. In Type 2 circumcisions, the labia majora and minor may be partly or totally removed. The vaginal passage is then closed, using thorns or stitches, leaving only a tiny opening for urination and menstruation. Inevitably there are severe consequences for the victim, in relation to both sexual intercourse, and childbirth.

There are other even more severe forms, an intimate description of which is unnecessary here. Even reading about it is not for the faint-hearted.

EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT

Female Genital Mutilation is, of course, illegal in Ireland. However, up to now it was possible for those for whom it is a matter of standard religious-cultural practice to take their children elsewhere to carry out the procedure, before returning to Ireland. Now, legislation which is currently before the Dáil will make it illegal to remove a child from the State for the purposes of FGM. This, say activists, is an important first step towards protecting immigrant women and children at risk.

“What we are hearing anecdotally, through NGOs working with communities that practice FGM, is that the greatest pressure is for children to undergo FGM when they are brought home,” says Eilís Ní Chaithnía of Amnesty International (Ireland).

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