FGM prosecutions

I read this and felt slightly sick. If this doctor repaired the damage caused to an existing FGM,after the woman had given birth, why on earth is he being prosecuted?

I do believe prosecutions are the most effective way of influencing this 'cultural' practice. I don't mean to be flippant, but using the law has been effective in influencing people not to drink and drive.

Very strange. It will be interesting to hear what the DPP has to say in front of the Health Select Committee next week.
The article also reported the senior gynaecologist who has spoken out against the prosecution as saying she thought there was very little FGM carried out in this country, that all the cases she sees had been done elsewhere.

Well, if that's true, i.e. the doctor is being prosecuted for attempting to repair the vagina of a woman after birth, the whole case is a farce!

Isn't this strange? Now the details have been released www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/fgm-top-gynaecologisthits-out-at-political-prosecution-for-female-genital-mutilation-9213200.html

Good point Penstemmon, about the benefits of school health services.

I have to say that many hearing issues and developmental issues are harder for schools to refer now because there is no school health service. If a parent chooses not to take a child to a GP there is little anyone can do about it and there are a few parents who find it hard to accept their child may have something that needs attention. Way back, if I had a concern about a child's health or general development I could ask for the doctor to see the child in school. Nowadays unless it is a real neglect case school cannot refer children. We had a case of 4 kids whose mum had a developing alcohol problem. Her 4th child, different dad to the other 3, had significant developmental delay but she would not accept it or agree to us asking any other professional to assess or give advice. A school check up would have helped.

Recent reports show that the issue of children's health is a matter of great concern. Increasing numbers of children are obese and doctors are worried at the rise in lifestyle-related illnesses and conditions. This is not just a problem for the poor - though it is certainly more difficult to maintain a healthy diet on a very small budget - but for all sections of society.

Why?

Yes. I live in the south-east.

Perhaps the sad cases that make the news wouldn't get that far if we went back to regular routine medical exams for all children. We have recently seen the return of rickets - children kept out of the sun because parents think sunburn is life threatening and other parents impose weird dietary fads. Universal prescription of cod liver oil virtually wiped that out by the 1950s. And TB which My GP told me in the 1970s had died out because it was a disease of poverty. Obesity and anorexia? Type 2 diabetes in children? Do you live in the UK, jingl?

penstemonn I was feeling Fed up with this whole idea when I posted that yesterday. I hope I did n't upset you.

I do, however, feel that the need for periodic school physical examinations of our children are long gone, along with cod liver oil and orange juice, and all other post-war stuff. Most children these days are well cared for physically. The sad cases that make the news are fortunately in the minority.

There was a group of mainly African woman who recently made a television documentary about this and had an information tent somewhere in London with some very graphic images. They were collaring young men to come in and talk about this.

A Frenchwoman on a television programme about FGM said the problem we Brits have with dealing with the problem is our peculiar attitudes towards sex and our bodies. I think ( note, this my own opinion for what it's worth which is why I use the personal pronoun) our attitudes towards racism may also be a problem. So often, white people speak up on behalf of ethnic minorities without ever asking what the ethnic minorities actually want. Like Muslims will be offended by mention of Christmas. Really?

No indeed France not a shining example of race relations and are storing up problems I'd say.

Education about FGM for both girls and boys (future adult males who have expectations about their wives' bodies) may well be the way forward, but who is to provide it, how and where?

I feel uncomfortable with the idea of little girls being examined in this way, as they are presumably not required to give consent and in any event cannot really give informed consent. But as FGM is such a horrific practice, I can understand why many people feel it is necessary to take drastic action. If such a policy were to be adopted, I feel that parents should be asked to accompany their daughters to their own GP surgery, rather than an examination being carried out on school premises.

I tend to agree with JessM that open discussion of the issue and better education might be a more effective way of dealing with it.

France is cited as a country where this procedure has produced positive results. However, I've read reports that many non-white French people feel quite alienated from French society and tend to be almost ghettoised in poor areas outside cities. I therefore don't think we should look to France as a shining example.

Galen or tentacles as my DGS calls his.

What specifically did you find not sensible jingl? A general health check at 5yrs?

I think

Undescended tetes!

Btw. I descended testes can turn malignant.

I think the majority are discovered during pregnancy. It certainly causes problems during birth. Sometimes it can even cause difficulty with intercourse.
It is a barbaric irrational procedure and anything that can be done to discourage it should and must be put into place!.

I did read the post. It was not sensible.

I am sure penstemonn can do her own F-ing and does not needyou to do it for her.

jingle as janea has clarified I am just suggesting that if we still had universal medical checks in schools it may have been easier to set up 'screenings' and it would not be for 'no reason' would it! Might also help to highlight child abuse & malnutrition too. Everyone gets angry when those cases slip through the net.

I think that greater education within & by communities where FGM is customary plus regular medical checks for children would make it more difficult for FGM to be hidden. However the mechanisms by which medical checks could take place have been dismantled.

Did you read penstemmon's post jingl?
She specifically said she was not promoting genital checking, and the examples she gave of when doctors do examine children were when parents did take their children to the doctor!!
As you might say yourself, FFS!!