Female Circumcision !

The arrest of nine people on charges of mutilating the genitals of two young girls has dragged the subject of female circumcision into the public arena.  This is happening in the Australian cities of Sydney and Wollongong, and many suspect that it is much more widely practised than the authorities will admit.

In this instance, the people involved include a registered medical practitioner and a registered nurse, and the little girls mutilated were aged just six and seven.  These are serious charges and it is likely that if proved they will result in a gaol sentence, and probably both the doctor and nurse will be de-registered by their professional standards committees.

What most Australians find so abhorrent is the thinking behind this mutilation.   The offenders often claim that they are carrying out a religious requirement, but that is not true.   There is no call for female circumcision in the laws of any religion and this claim is made by religious splinter groups who interpret religious laws to suit their own requirements.

The thinking behind female mutilation runs in tandem with areas of society where women have no status and are restricted to tribal taboos.   Almost from the day a female child learns to walk they are closed away and their virginity is strictly guarded.   Often they become a child bride to an older man, not so much as a " wife " as an item of personal property.   They are there to serve their owner sexually, but their own emotional needs are totally ignored.

This seems to be where female circumcision originated.,   These male dominated societies wished to ensure that their female slaves did not stray sexually, and so began the practice of removing the clitoris.   Without joy from sex, all forms of reason to be attracted sexually to others - disappeared.    The facts that this " wife " received no sexual joy from her " husband " was treated with indifference.

There are laws against this form of mutilation in Australia, but it is still being carried out behind closed doors, and unfortunately - once performed - it is beyond restoration.    These mutilated women will never know the joy of sex - and in many cases the people who performed this abomination will be their own parents.

Tribal custom is probably the most difficult ingrained thinking to change in a society that is still rooted in the dark ages, but the only weapons available to a modern society seem to be " the stick and the carrot ".    It is essential that the courts crack down hard and dispense harsh penalties to discourage the custom in this country - and at the same time we need to reach out to those from another culture and try and educate them about the role of women in this nation's culture.

Progress will be slow and difficult, and in this instance proceeding through the courts - the damage has already been done !