You've probably already heard of female genital mutilation since the international movement against it is so eminent these days, but what attracts less attention is the fact that every story it has two faces. Some experts question the zero-tolerance approach to FGM and raise doubts about the campaign's efforts, while others call for urgent action. Is the UK heading towards a safe haven or part of a world that defends cultural rights more than it defends human rights? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay No one knows exactly how FGM started whether it started in one place or many places. However, this type of practice is known to have been going on for thousands of years and therefore predates Christianity and Islam. Today FGM embodies many different things in different cultures. For years the tradition of female circumcision was considered unproblematic. In 1979 it became a hot topic when the Hosken Report attempted to document how many girls were circumcised in which countries. When Fran Hosken presented his findings, it caused a sensation. Although the term female genital mutilation was considered controversial, women's groups began to adapt their terminology. Eventually, the United Nations began using the term in its official documentation in 1994, followed by the World Health Organization who designed a classification system describing the different types of FGM covered by the umbrella term. This change in terminology has led to a change in policy. FGM involves procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. According to the WHO, there are four types of FGM. It is carried out for various cultural, religious and social reasons, for example to ensure virginity before marriage and fidelity after or as a girl's initiation into femininity. This invasive procedure is non-medical and has no health benefits. In reality it's the opposite. This practice can cause serious health problems, including complications during childbirth, problems urinating or menstruating, repeated infections that can lead to infertility, pain or difficulty having sex, mental health problems, and even death. It is typically performed on girls before the age of 15 and traditionally conducted by a woman with no medical training, without anesthetics or antiseptic treatments, using knives, scissors, pieces of glass or razor blades. In the United Kingdom, FGM has been a criminal offense since 1985, when the UK-wide Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act, also known as the 1985 Act, was passed. The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 replaced the 1985 Act. in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Female Genital Mutilation Ban Act 2005 replaced the 1985 Act in Scotland. Type 1 Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris, Type 2 Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia, Type 3 Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal formed by cutting and repositioning the labia, Type 4 All other harmful procedures for female genitalia for non-medical purposes, including pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping, or burning supposedly to purify them for their husbands. Sometimes it is done to girls because it was done to their mothers, as a rite of passage or coming of age. FGM is not a religious exercise, it is not required in any of the holy books. It happens in Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, but there are no religious texts that say thatit should be done. In early 2019 the UK (and England in particular) achieved its first successful prosecution of an FGM case. However, up to 2019 only 3 other trials involving FGM had taken place, all of which ended in acquittal. Clearly, these crimes represent a difficult legal area for prosecutors.[FootnoteRef:8] Here are some important facts and developments that need to be considered regarding a number of issues: First, the first FGM prosecution in United Kingdom did not concern a clandestine clinic offering illegal circumcision, nor the prosecution of parents who had taken their daughter abroad to undergo FGM during the so-called cutting season. A doctor has been prosecuted for carrying out FGM after delivering a baby, making a cut on a woman to help her give birth and repairing the mutilation she had suffered in childhood. He was accused of suturing the woman's vagina after giving birth in ways that allegedly amounted to the reintroduction of FGM (reinfibulation), so this case focused on the question of whether a single stitch used by a doctor constituted FGM. The doctor had never seen a woman undergoing FGM, had never received training on the topic, and had no experience in how to perform a deinfibulation procedure to assist women undergoing FGM to give birth safely. He got her consent to make a cut and since the cut continued to bleed, he decided to place a suture to stop the bleeding. The CPS made the allegations public just days before the DPP appeared before a panel to question her. failure to bring a single prosecution for FGM, therefore this should be considered a show trial. Furthermore, the mother did not support the accusation and made clear her discomfort at being at the center of a historic case, which brings us to the next consideration. Due to the hidden nature of the crime, the true extent of FGM is unknown. The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduced mandatory reporting in England and Wales. This duty applies when, in the course of their professional duties, a health or social worker or teacher discovers that FGM appears to have been carried out on a girl under 18, whether this has been disclosed by the victim or noticed by the professional. The latter has caused great concern among medical professionals. It took some of these women years to tell anyone what happened to them, and reporting any teenager who seeks medical attention for any reason, without their explicit consent, could be considered a breach of trust. It is necessary to create a safe haven for women to speak, so this measure is considered counterproductive and given the young age of the potential victims, it is difficult to rely on a child testifying against someone so close to them. To open the vagina, a surgery called deinfibulation can be performed. This treatment is known as a reversal, but the procedure does not replace the tissue removed and does not reverse the damage caused by FGM. In summary, the CPS can only prosecute on the basis of evidence, the police can only investigate on the basis of referral and healthcare professionals do not make referrals due to their lack of training or awareness of this procedure. So the key to a far better outcome of any prosecution is prevention? Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPO) came into force in 2015, allowing some courts to make orders to protect a girl.