Girl receives damages for genital mutilation

if Sweden is planning on compensating every victim of FGM, this will prove financially and socially disastrous: fgm is inflicted on a huge proportion of Moslem females throughout islam because of a hadith (teachings and words of mohamed) which supports and encourages it:

http://www.meforum.org/article/1629 Families complicit in this barbarism should be deported and laws enacted to criminalise and make it financially punitive to that 'community.'

Why did the story not mention the mother has been imprisoned for 10 years?The mother has been imprisoned hasn't she?Hasn't she???

Question: There are two figures reported in the article. 450kkr and 390kkr. The mother pays the first. Who pays the 390kkr?

In Britain, the british police stated last year that over 4,000 moslem girls per year are mutilated either in britain or sent back to their 'home countries' to have it done.fgm females face dangerous births but they insist on 'being sewn up again' after or risk being rejected or killed by their families so national health services face ongoing physical/mental costs to deal with this. doctors and police have known about this for years but were too cowed by political correctness to say/do anything.

Sorry for being so naive, but why do parents make their daughters get mutilated? I know about circumcision in boys but I have not heard of operating on female genitalia. I have sound knowledge of different religions and I don't think it is a requirement in any religion (Islam, Christianity or Judaism) for the females to go through this process. Seems more like a cultural thing to me, since all the cases I have heard of relate to families whose background is from Africa.

Can anyone shed more light on this.

It is very much more a cultural thing. The practice of female genital mutilation predates Islam and Christianity and is carried out primarily in the African continent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_circum...ligious_aspects

More cuntural than cultural really. A truly abhorrent practice, though not Sweden's to compensate for. Take some of the Somalian pirate swag and distribute it among the unfortunate victims instead.

FGM is not primarily an African culture, it is practiced in Asia and the middle-east, funny how the western world like to suscribe every negativity to Africa. I come from a country in Africa where it is practiced but recent protests by both men and women has seen it reduced to the barest minimum. I have worked on projects that create awareness about this. the only reason why it still thrives right now is that religion, especially Islam promotes it and thats why it is predominantly practiced in Islamic countries from Africa to Asia, Middle-East and even Europe.

Get your facts straight and stop coming here to tell us what you heard from an obviously un-reliable source, it only shows us your level of ignorance.

I dont know how bolababu said that "Islam promotes it".. This is simply blame without having even basic knowledge of Islam.. I am from Pakistan (98%) muslim population and I have never ever heard about this barbarian act..

So if you want to defend Africa its ok but don't blame any religion for these types of acts as you clearly has no valid information about this.

@Xzion prove it !

For those ignorant people here who take media for granted, I would like to inform you that Islam is 100% against FGM. it's merely a cultural thing and it does NOT exist in the middle east except in those who migrate from such culture.

I am not defending islam cuz there are many other things that it has done wrong to women. but FGM in certainly not one of them, and it;s just wrong to read this and not share what I know..... and most of you don't!

This is a cultural practice designed to reduce, if not eliminate, the enjoyment of sexual stimulation by the woman. The idea behind this mutilation is that women will be loyal and chaste partners- the reduction of ability to experience clitoral orgasms is thought to reduce the chances of a woman looking for an extramarital partner.

WHO has some excellent research material available on this subject, if you are really interested. One of my friends is a field worker in Ghana who has the responsibility of developing community education programmes to help eliminate this practice, and as another poster here has written, there are sharp reductions in FGM in many of the African countries where it has been traditionally practiced. I feel like the best use of Swedish tax payer money is probably not to compensate individuals for this mutilation, but to use money to help partner up with community groups like my friend's, to help change the attitudes that promote this practice.

I'm not sure how feasible - or just it would be to exclude victims of a certain type of violent crime from being awarded damages. The compensation comes from the Crime victims fund - all victims of crimes can ask for compensation from the perpetrator when the court case is heard

The girl was awarded the damages as a result of a criminal case brought against her mother for breaking Swedish law and the contnuation of the abuse for several years following the actual mutilation in Somalia - in Sweden anyone can claim damages if they have been a victim of crime.

Damages are awarded by the court - however if the convicted person has no assets and no work or are in prison - then the case can be referred to the crime victims fund who will carry out their own assessment. The Crime victims fund does not have to award the same amount - this is a controversial aspect of the law in Sweden. In this case the court awarded 450K however as the mother is in prison the Crime victims fund has agreed to pay 390K.

This is true- payment of damages is certainly a fair use of money, from the victim's point of view, particularly if her mom was a Swede when she helped commit this abuse on her daughter. However, thinking on a wider scale, if we, as a nation of tax payers, really want to see some changes, we also need to be thinking about how we can support the kinds of programmes that help promote the rights of women in areas where FGM is still part of the culture.

One of the Swedish agencies I have mixed feelings about, as a tax payer, is SIDA. I love that we give so much support to developing cool projects with partners in areas where help is needed. But I also would like to see better oversight for those projects, so that things like my friend's group would have a real chance of obtaining small grant funds. I'd like to see tax funds used to evaluate and then help further develop projects that promote education for females, for example- when women gain literacy, and are able to participate in the workforce, all sorts of good things happen. Infant mortality goes way down. Family size goes way down. Economic participation means that women aren't dependent on a male, and that helps combat some of the cultural norms that grant male privilege.

One of my favourite quotes on women's literacy comes from a very surprising source.

Brigham Young was a Mormon prophet, famous for having many dozen wives. But he said something smart once: Teach a boy to read, and you teach one person. Teach a girl to read, and you teach entire generations. I like that.

Please get your facts right.

In Islam there is no concept of Female Genital mutilation. This is an African custom actually.

As long as male genital circumcission is concerned, Yes Islam does have it !! Buy Why male only in Islam? For that you need more study about this particular act.

A more mature experiece shows that extra- marital affairs do not come from clitorial orgasms, but vaginal orgasms, for women (and men...). This if your 'thrusting' number is nine of course, as her lover. I believe this is especially the case in Sweden. (Haha!)

Yeah. Whatever.

I figure the level of intelligent contribution to this hugely important issue on women's health, human rights, and Swedish policy, is directly related to a contributor's ability to be sensitive to the needs of others. One feels great sorrow for some of the partners of posters here, eller hur?

But how could the parents possibly pay the damages? They are most likely on wellfare, based on studies of somalian refugees and integration.

My question is why is the child's mother still alive? I think that everyone involved in such procedures need to be retired from the living condition. For demented people to do such a twisted thing to someone is a modern day horror. I could care less about the reasons given for FGM. My primary concern is that everyone involved in FGM being permanently cured of their inhumanity.....death is the best solution. SO once again I ask why are those who did this to the girl still alive?

FGM is barbaric on soo many levels. It should be eradicated.

With that said --- what I fail to understand --- where is that 'Swedish tolerance of other cultures' that posters on this forum keep demanding of others?

Oh the hypocrisy. .sigh.

.

The child's mother, in her own culture, probably felt that she was doing what was needed in order to increase her daughter's value on the marriage market. When family honour depends on no sexual activity outside of marriage by its daughters, then making sure that daughters are honourably married, and free from any suspicion of extra marital sexual activity is paramount to survival, particularly to the daughters involved. Don't think that mothers don't care- they care so much that they are willing to see this mutilation continue, rather than have their daughters viewed with suspicion by potential suitors, and edited to add, possibly stoned to death for sexual activity outside of marriage.

In this regard, it really is a community issue, not just the family's.

rpt I linked to http://www.meforum.org/article/1629 is fully medically researched and accredited. FGM is Islamic practice from hadith where mohamed approves and encourages it (hadith is quoted in article), that's why it's so hard to deal with this because it has sanction in islam's texts. 90% Egyptian females, 60% Iraqi Kurds, etc, Many people seem unaware that much of Africa is Islamic because of Moslem slave trade for almost 1400 yrs. UN refuses to allow any discussion of Sharia Law because controlling majority members in Human Rights Council are Moslem countries (OIC, Organisation of Islamic Conference) and FGM comes under this concern.

No, Nutcracker. As many posters have stated here, FGM precedes Islam. It is practiced in Christian areas as well as Moslem areas, and indeed, many Muslim countries have never participated in this practice. Check out the WHO website if you want neutral information on this practice.

Querist: One does not tolerate the intolerable. That is evil. And yes, we are entitled to judge certain practices of other cultures (and laws like Sharia) as inherently wrong, and especially bad if allowed into our own: these practices, like FGM, are defined as torture and can actually kill these kids (bleeding to death, etc), put huge strains on our infrastructures (health, social) and worst of all, can cause us as humans to become hardened to such suffering. That can destroy us as individuals, as a people and as a nation.

The issue of FGM is inextricably linked to human rights. There is a very good document put out by multiple agencies of the United Nations. In its introduction, the authors state:

Where female genital mutilation is widely practised,

it is supported by both men and women, usually

without question, and anyone departing from the

norm may face condemnation, harassment, and

ostracism. As such, female genital mutilation is

a social convention governed by rewards and

punishments which are a powerful force for

continuing the practice. In view of this conventional

nature of female genital mutilation, it is difficult

for families to abandon the practice without

support from the wider community. In fact, it is

often practised even when it is known to inflict

harm upon girls because the perceived social

benefits of the practice are deemed higher than its

disadvantages (UNICEF, 2005a).

The source for this document can be accessed here Eliminating FGM: an Interagency Statement, UN, 2008

Yes, it precedes Islam but it is Islam which mandates for it and it is Islamic countries which predominantly inflict it. Read the article I linked and check out the extensive medical & scholarly bibliography at the end of it.The article mentions the failure of WHO to properly address the problem ("FGM was prevalent in Iraqui Kurdistan for years but went undetected by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and many other international NGOs in the region"). Where FGM is practised in non-Moslem areas, you will find that, historically, those were areas which were once under Moslem domination and therefore the practice spread.

We can go round and round on this, particularly if you don't want to defer to the work of the UN on this issue. Still, you would probably agree with me that not all Islamic countries practice this, so it appears, even at cursory glance, to be much more of a cultural phenomena than a religious mandate. Otherwise, ALL Muslimas would be circumsized, as, come to think of it, are the boys after a certain age.

Let us agree, you will think as you want, and I'll refer to scholarly reports and make up my own mind. We are certainly in agreement that this practice is insupportable, and I would assume that you would also like to see our Swedish government participate in effective programmes aimed at wiping this practice off the face of the earth. Peace!

So typical the stupid politicians approve to give away our hard earned money, it shows they do not work for a living! As for the Somalis, the man who endorse this should be castrated and the woman, who force their young girls to undergo this should rot in Somali jails not Swedish first of all we would have to pay the bill and second of all is paradise for them.

For many of us who served in Somalia, and have experienced the conflict in Mogadishu understand that this people have little or no regard for life, nor their own!

They take and plunder at will, they would need to live at peace for years, then it will take a few generations before they understand the norm.

I read about half of the comments maybe and came across Nutcrackers post, and thought it my duty to inform you fine folks about what Islam really says about female circumcision in detail. Kindly visit the following URL:

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/82859/female%20circumcision

This is a good website to find out things about Islam, with proper sources and interpretation, and without apologies.

For those too lazy to open the link, female circumcision is generally encouraged, not prescribed. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) specifically instructed to "not go to extremes", rather "remove just part of the clitoris" and not in whole.

ghareeb: the hadith was not quoted in full at that site but it is in full at the rpt I linked to:

"This woman, known as an exciser of female slaves, was one of a group of women who had immigrated with Muhammed. Having seen her, Muhammed asked her if she kept practicing her profession.She answered affirmatively, adding: "unless it is forbidden, and you order me to stop doing it."Muhammed replied: "Yes, it is allowed. Come closer so I can teach you: if you cut, do not overdo it, because it brings more radiance to the face, and it is more pleasant for the husband."

The hadith thus makes clear Muhammed approving and encouraging it, this is why, as I said, it is such a problem to eradicate it in Islamic countries, it has textual authority.

Good reading Nutcraker and ghareeb and informative as well, thanks for the link, however from that point of view, if the prophet Muhammed encouraged castrations will the sons of Islam comply?

That seems reasonable to us infidels!

While it is certainly true that Islam is not out and out condemning this practice, it is equally true that it is NOT practiced universally throughout the Muslim world. Note also that your source cites a hadith, not the Koran. It certainly appears that in many Muslim communities, this practice is not viewed with favour. Asking a Muslim man if he'd agree to have his testicles cut off, if his prophet said so, sort of downplays the actual issues before us, and makes it easy for people who belong to communities where FGM is prevelant, to ignore our comments and or write us off as unwashed ignorants. But this issue impacts all of us. It isn't just a Muslim issue. It's an issue of human rights, and how very sad that a scared little Swedish girl had to undergo such a horrific act.

If a child is removed from Sweden, then undergoes FGM, and returns to Sweden, then she is well entitled to victim's money, in my view, as she is a Swedish person who is a victim of a crime. As we seem to do quite well in prosecuting adults who travel overseas to have underage sex with innocent children, I see no reason why we shouldn't prosecute adults who remove children from the protection of the Swedish law to conduct ritualised mutilation, and I am glad that the courts also agreed. Still, I think we could do much better good for potential victims by working with local programmes to change attitudes. There is no hard and fast religious injuncture calling for this abuse, so it can be changed. Sermon done!

Dear nutcracker,

I do not mean to ridicule your source or anything, but that is a quotation of Sami A. Aldeeb Abu Sahlieh, not an Islamic source. When quoting Hadeeth (saying of the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him), the book of the Hadeeth is referred along with a number for the particular saying, e.g. al-Bukhaari (5891). This can be cross verified easily. It seems to me that Mr. Sami has made some additions to the tradition, but we can only be sure if he shares his source (might be another book or narrator).

Nevertheless, the important point here is "not going to extremes" when doing it, just to remove a part of it. I am not in a position to answer he question about "removing how much is allowed in Islam", but it is something I will try to look into when I go back home for vacations next week and get in touch with a sound scholar, if Allah Wills.

Ghareeb: If you look back at your source, which you kindly linked to, you will see he quotes Abu Dawud al-Tabaraani in al-Awsat, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu'ab from Umm 'Atiyyah al-Ansaariyyah and he also quotes al-Bukhaari and Muslim, both of whom, of course, as you know, are the most esteemed of the Sahih Sittah. I never quote all this (no space!!) and people don't usually want to know this scholarly issue about accreditation and chains of transmission. The fact remains FGM is unacceptable in the Western world and the West should not be burdened, financially or otherwise, with such conduct.

So the child protection agency in sweden failed this child?

if some stupid politician can approve such urge amount as compesation,for FGM in which they know its a crime in swedish law let somebody ask migrationboard why are they deporting my 2 year old daugther to where she will subjected to this degrading,unaccepted and barbaric pratise, they must be ready to pay my daugther too bcos migrationsverket is about to deport her back to africa she was born here in sweden,if swedish law cannot protect women and children its a shame.

I wondered the same myself. I had noticed that the comments after the articles in the News section are also in the Discuss section. So I went to the Discuss section, found the news article, and found all responses displayed in full.

In what way? - You think that there should be a ban on parents leaving Sweden with their children?

The child protection agencies are in a problematic situation - as there have been some heavy handed attempts in this area which have backfired - such as the school nurse who sent the police to forcibly take a girl from school for a forced gynaecological exam - which completely traumatised the child - yet it turned out she had NOT been mutilated

Hello, i'm new here can i join the conversation

Diddi you are absolutely right that is not a practise of Islam. There are even Christians and secular people who practise this tradition in Africa.

There are good and bad traditions everywhere around the world.

I myself were a muslim practising woman before i left Islam and became an atheist not because that Islam is bad, i think there is no god.

Mamoshka: It is a practise of Islam, that's what this discussion is about. Read this article: http://www.meforum.org/article/1629 And the bottom line in this issue is that it is not acceptable in the West, it is regarded, as the ruling stated, akin to torture, and no Western country should have to bear the financial, medical and social costs of it.

nutcracker what are you talking about! i have practised Islam before and nothing of this sort at all! this is a tradition that is very old even older than Islam my dear.

I do not like Islamphobics at all!

Second, get your facts straight women who practise Islam they get sexually aroused

and recieve good sex like many other women!

Third, i no longer practise Islam but that doesnot make me critize islam or other religions

people are individuals!

Whichever (certainly male) sadist started FGM its still barbaric torture both physical and mental which should be eradicated in any culture/religion. But why is MGM ie circumcision acceptable when its more or less the same thing - though not so drastic cause its another male instigated practice.

And for the believers, if we think God is perfect and all powerful, with what right do we undo what he created?

You are in the news section and you need to go to the discussion section.

Yes! First prison sentence then deport them!

Haven't a clue what laws would financially punitive to community. Community needs education. The violators need prison and expulsion!

ME TOO! How long is the prison sentence? Long enough so others will think twice about doing it to their daughters? When she gets out of jail will she be deported??? Enquiring minds want to know! To do nothing to this mother is to say to the community, it is OK!

Yes I have the same urges! The practice must be CULLED from the human race! Short of that, a policy of very long prison sentences followed by deportation may help protect the Swedish girls who are in danger! If the threat of prison is real and you will be forced to go back to the country you do not want to go back to - people MAY think twice before doing it.

Yes! The mothers think they are helping their children! Totally agree. They do not see anything wrong with it. It was done to them, and to their mothers and so on way back when. Most interesting to me is the idea that it is not the men who mandate this. It is the women who have bought into this and force it on other women.

Education is very important but MOST IMPORTANT to me is attacking this problem head-on here in Sweden. It is like we ignore the problem UNTIL a particular case brings it to our attention. This is wrong! At risk immigrant girls should be checked!!! And to hell with the political correctness! AT RISK GIRLS NEED TO BE CHECKED AND MONITORED!!! in a civil manner. If the parents object to the monitoring, GREAT! At least we got their attention and engage in direct discussions with them. They will know that punishment will be harsh and swift!

This will wake the parents up to the fact that they are being monitored! If the parents refuse to heed the warnings, LENGTHLY prison sentences followed by deportation may cause other parents to heed the warnings!

Parents go and the children are allowed to stay. We will find a nice Swedish family to adopt your kids. Bye, Bye!

If we cannot stop it here in Sweden, how are we going to stop it elsewhere?

So please tell me how I am wrong or over reacting?

Regarding comments of Bolababu...

FGM was never a part of asian or islamic culture. Actually it is practiced nowhere else in the world except of course in Africa... along with some other strange, bizarre, notorious and most of the time inhumane rituals. To name just a few of them.. FGM, Engraving All over Skin, Cannibalism, Diging the graves of ancestors and retriving the remnants and tossing the body in the air while singing and dancing all the time, neck extension by metal rings, inserting metal plates in lips and other stuffs that even rotten.com would not allow on their site!!!... the list goes on... and how being an African you say this is not African...!!!?

Anyway, its curious that you can write... that too in English!

YOU'RE ALL MISSING THE POINT! who cares if it's cultural or religious? it's misogynistic, based upon treating women as mere chattel and a vessel for males to deposit their sperm in. it's worse than rape, because it denies a woman any chance to explore and enjoy her sexuality for her entire lifetime, one of the the most fundamental human rights. the perpetrators should be imprisoned, and the girls protected from returning to their homelands until they're adults.

I completely agree with you nolaroger. This practice is about oppression and stripping away human rights. In Sweden WE do NOT allow or put up with this practice. It has its roots generation after generation in oppressing females basic human rights. This girl is Swedish.

Some have found this article shocking as they had never head of this practice. Good... it's the valid feeling to have. Feel better for having that knowledge. This practice is insanely cruel. The more people know about this, the more publicity that is is given, the more convictions are made, the more pressure will be placed on these barbarians to stop and finally the more strength will be given to those who have been violated or live withthe threat of being violated to speak out. Both in and out of Sweden.

Please don't be quick to demonise the culture or the religion. Just see the devil for what it truely is: ABUSE.

Nolaroger and Taz Mania: I agree with you, its violation of basic human rights, that's what I first said and why I presented independent medical and scholarly advice that it occurs mainly throughout Islamic countries because they use the excuse of religion to justify such cruelty. We need to get this info out and Moslems on this forum trying to deny it should read the article I linked to and start supporting efforts to stop it. But the bigger issue is a Western country's people shouldn't be expected to turn a blind eye to it or have to pay hundreds of thousands to a victim of it. It is happening in Moslem 'communities' all over Europe.

If I would be a Somalian, who has no education whatsoever (as most of them here), I would presume that there is money to be made here... But as a matter of fact, there are very little articles that describe something good about Islam. Even in the Muslim news. So the Muslim should stop blaming everybody else and start thinking for the first time in 900 years... And Xzion - Nazism is spreading pretty fast also, didn't you notice?

this is interesting to discuss, yet when push comes to shove what are you as freepeople living in the Freeworld ( Western ) willing to do about it? What consequences should be imposed upon people who commit these acts? Personally afew years in prison is not enough. A swift mercilous death is a step in the right direction. Since this particular event occured to a Swedish National or resident what should Sweden do to discurage this?

It is a new trend now to blame everything on muslims or arabs in Sweden. When i arrived in Sweden from ten years it was more the gypsies and the finns!

A Greek papyrus from 163 B.C. mentions girls in Egypt undergoing circumcision and it is widely accepted to have originated in Egypt and the Nile valley at the time of the Pharaohs. Evidence from mummies have shown both Type I and Type III FGC present.

This is not a practise of Islam but a practise of ignorant uneducated tribes in the middle east and africa. Some are christians, some are muslims it started with the pharoahs were they muslims?

Mamoshka: my sympathies to any female genitally mutilated mummies but they're not costing Swedes hundreds of thousands of kronor! Try reading the linked article I put up several times (which is used by most orgs opposing FGM BTW). The unwillingness of Moslems to face up to the fact that FGM is a practice throughout Moslem 'communities' shows that the problem of this barbarism will have to be dealt with by Westerners refusing to tolerate it, its social and moral implications or its very real onerous and unfair economic strain on Western countries.

Okay, so, Nutcracker, let's say for the sake of argument that you are right. FGM is primarily a phenomena in Muslim communities- let's make that a given for this argument (although as a big sister to many younger siblings, I feel absolutely compelled to tell you this is not the case, just one more time.) Let's even make it more obvious- FGM is mandated by Muslim culture. (Again, utter tripe, but for the sake of argument.)

If this is the case, what do you expect Muslims to do? If they truly believe that their God demands this, then what, if anything, should, or even could, be done about this?

The onus for change would still have to come from within the communities where this was practiced. But the West would still be responsible for protecting its own citizens and residents against this barbarism. So what am I missing here? What exactly is it that you want conceded or stated by others on this thread as relates to Islam? I'm not angry, not provoking you, just truly not getting it. I would think almost all of us, if not all, agree that this practice is abhorrent and needs eradicating.

DidiE: I think my last comment is self-explanatory: Moslems aren't going to acknowledge medical, textual or historical facts about this abuse. I'm sorry for these children but the West isn't a bottomless pit of money, medical and social facilities and our values and our civilisation are worth preserving against what we know is wrong. I'd say this is a matter for the public, to assert its will on its elected officials. That's what we do in a democracy. Citizenship implies responsibilities as well as rights, and people who are granted the great privilege of living in the West should obey our laws and respect our values which this girl's mother, and others allowing and encouraging FGM, do not.

Oh, the great west! there is a great east too!

like it or not!

Nutcraker http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_cutting

scroll down to cultural and religious aspects.

Indeed they are costing taxes payers that's not the point! (many of those refugees they want to work but are not allowed)

And the point is that anyone can do this to his or her child.

poverty in some certain middle easterns and african countries. Poverty and ignorance.

Remember the columbine high school some try to accuse the goth subculture of violence and crime.

When two students murdered their classmates , goth music was accused worldwide check out http://www.godhatesgoths.com

It is now a trend to blame a certain culture and certian people!

There are bad individuals in all religions, cultures

Yeah, okay, Mamoshka, and I figure this conversation has now lost interest for all but a very few of us- every culture, race, and group has good and bad. Everyone agrees here. But the issue under discussion is FGM- it's not really helpful to the poor Swedish kids being held down by their moms while undergoing this truly atrocious procedure, to begin discussing other atrocities. I think the point here is that FGM is occurring to Swedish kids, and how can we, as a nation, effectively address THIS issue? High school massacres are another topic. Anyway, even I, who am very interested in this subject, think we might have pretty much said it all by now.

Edited for truly appalling grammar mistakes.

Refugee family would be able to learn about this in courses, booklets or voluntarely imigrants who can understand the refugees language can help to improve the situation very much.

Many issuses should be discussed before studying Swedish

there is a problem refugee families are put in a center place . and they have to wait a year or two for their cases to be settled once and for all.

How can voluntarely organizations help out, this needs to be in accordance with the goverment.

Refugee families have SO MANY PROBLEMS that perhaps it is worth to rethink allowing them finding refuge in Europe. First, we need to teach them not to beat women to death, then not to marry 9 y/o cousins, then not to burn cars, then not to cut their children to pieces, then not to explode in buses, only then - to let them do us a favor and learn the language, he? How about staying where they were and all of the above is legal and encouraged?

Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,

Lest we forget--lest we forget!

-Rudyard Kipling

Sweden's had its own own homebred mutilation practices. From wikapedia:

'The eugenistic legislation was enacted in 1934 and was formally abolished in 1976. According to the 2000 governmental report, 21,000 were estimated to have been forcibly sterilized, 6,000 were coerced into a 'voluntary' sterilization while the nature of a further 4,000 cases could not be determined.[16] The number sterilized may according to some be as high as 500,000.[citation needed] The Swedish state subsequently paid out damages to many of the victims.'

from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization#Sweden

Dear Nutcracker,

There is a big difference between mutilation and circumcision. If you look at the referenced hadeeth in the article I posted, along with the detailed interpretation, it becomes clear that what encouraged in Islam is removing part of the clitoris. Wmen are still able to enjoy the pleasures of sex, and this has medical advantages too, as written in the article. I am reposting it for anyone else interested in reading it:

http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/82859/female%20circumcision

Hence, to say "FGM" (Mutilation means complete removal) is what is encouraged by Islam is wrong.

It is through the acknowledgment of the unethical and inhumane practices that surround us we can both abolish, extinguish and correct these wrongs. This is a human rights issue. This is everybody's issue.

Once again. Take religion out of the equation. Concentrate on the crime and the ethical side and we can then progress. A religion does not mutilate, a person decides to mutilate.

Put more pressure on the crime and practice of mutilation, not the religion and the practice has a chance to be halted. Point fingers and say it's their fault, their beliefs, and we will be at a standstill. It is basic human nature. Peace and conflict.

Ahhh... Taz Mania, but if a religions teachings promotes human rights violations then that must be addressed. If a particular sect or organization of a religion advocates human rights violations then it should be dealt with. I'm all for putting pressure on the crime, yet it is vital to put pressure on the source of the problem and it's cause whether it be by an individual or an insitution which fuels these crimes.

http://www.mwlusa.org/topics/violence&harrassment/fgm.html It is not accurate to say Islam requires FGM, by hadith or otherwise, according to that website. It's akin to saying Christianity requires women to wear skirts (which some fundamentalists DO say). But considering the human cost, and how the practice violates basic values expressed in their Qur'an, it's very sad some people try to say FGM is Islamic. Fundamentalists in every religion seem to be naturally xenophobic, dictatorial; let's reject their attempts to mis-educate us.

And no I am not Islamic. Nor Christian for that matter.

FGM is something that is absolutely abhorent and can only be changed through education. However, in ALL western European countries, plus the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand another kind of genital mutilation has been going on in secret for over 60 years, INTERSEX GENITAL MUTILATION, that is, when a child is born with ambiguous genitals--sometimes a clitoris that seems too big for a girl or a penis considered too small for a boy--doctors operate to make that child's body conform to current standards of male or femaleness. My cousin had a complete cliterectomy at the age of 4 and with the use of female hormones (that caused her to lose her gallbladder) was made into a girl--but without the capacity for sexual pleasure. Sweden is no different. The only country in the world that protects the child's right to bodily integrity is Columbia. This happens in 1 in every 3000 births, everyday, nearly everywhere. Google 'intersex' and see for yourselves!

Sorry, but I don't think that anyone should have the balls to decide on someone's sex. That is formed in ones OWN mind, NOT in the body parts. I hope your cousin is happy as she grows up with the decision the adults made for her, when she was four.

Inletwatcher

It is up to Swedish people to decide how their tax payers money is spent and it is their choice to take in immigrants or not. Swedes and Europeans should also understand that people in other parts of the world are also concerned about migration; not just of people but also of resources, and i wonder how 'civilized' Europe will survive if isolated

Yea, I am from Africa and FGM is practiced in some African countries. To condemn it is one thing but to say it is an African culture, especially by those who are at pain to conceal any connection between FGM and Islam, is laughable. FGM is common in many Arab countries (Iraq, Yemen, Indonesia). In Africa it is predominant in Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Niger (Moslem countries).

Interesting that supporters of Islam suddenly find 'African culture' -what ever that means, to be the monster that subordinate women. Oh yea, it is 'African culture' that subordinate women while Islam greatly empowers them

The racists are back again!!!FGM is a nasty practice, but lets not tar a whole race/religeous group with the same brush. Us ayrans are far from innocent either....invading countries on lies for world resource domination, 68k US deaths in Vietnam vs 3 million vietnamese, colateral damage, Korean war atrocities, WWII in general. On the other side a greed and cynical mentality which leads to divided world.......and all this done with an arrogance of moral superiority.Islamists/Africans and Others should also acknowledge there are faults in groups of their culture too. FGM, stoning to death punishment etc etc. The problem is we are dividing ourselves into the righteous and the non-righteousaccording to 'tribe' without seeing who we really are.There is no master race!Only humanityand humans r flawed.

No matter where it comes from it should be banned. Knutta, it is not only africa i said it before it started with the pharohs.

Just like free masonary started with the pharohs and babylon

I'm from Turkey, and I'm not a Muslim. I've never heard these kind of things in Turkey. FGM came from Africa. We can not blame those people for doing it, because they are uneducated. It's an old tradition which is wrong(at least wrong for us), and we have to fix this situation.

Being racist won't solve anything.

yubermis: FGM is overwhelmingly inflicted among Moslem females usually when they're small children or girls; it is throughout predominantly Moslem countries (92% of Egyptian females, majority of Irqui Kurds, etc) and the African countries where it is done are historically from the time of Moslem domination of the slave trade in Africa. Islam is not a race, and flinging words like 'racist' or 'racism' around doesn't help address, or solve, the problem.

I don't think the origin matters or an ethnic/religious group should be the focus here. FGM is bad and so are many other practices. The way forward is to fight against every evil but if Africa is to be blamed, then we can go on pointing fingers.

I am from Africa and it sounded like a myth the first time I heard about FGM. In my country few people comprehend what FGM is. But the short time that I have been in Sweden, I have come to realise that as an African be prepared to accept responsibility for anything wrong that is associated with any African or part of the continent. I don't know anything about Somalia but yea, I am guilty of FGM. Europeans and Moslems should learn to admit their guilt and stop blaming Africa for everything that is wrong.

In Sweden about 80 percent of immigrants are from Europe and Asia (Statistiska centralbyrån 2007). But almost every anti immigration hate is directed against Africans.

Nutcracker stop bashing muslims! islamopbia is on the rise!

yes there is racism against africans, muslims, gypsies, muslims, arabs ect in Sweden.

I'm born a muslim woman from Lebanon. I have never read the Quran in my entire life in Lebanon. I had sex relationships with many men in Lebanon from different religions and backgrounds and more than my Swedish man.

My father knows about it, my mother knows about it. We have christians, one buddist in our family. Some of my female cousins are married to christians. One female cousin is married to a buddist.

I read the Quran in Sweden because i felt isolated in Sweden. From both sides from refugees, imigrants who thought i'm an easy girl or from Sweds who don't know so much about my country.

I got relatives who practise Islam in my family. My aunt she wears a scarf and pray ect. But her daughter spending her time in bikini on the beaches in the north of Lebanon in their chalet.

I have never heard about honor killings, genital mutilation. I heard it here when i lived with my husband in Sweden.

I know it was done in Egypt but it is banned there now.

What you want! burn all muslims? okay do it so your hate might dissapear but i doubt it!

http://www.themuslimwoman.com/hygiene/femalecircumcision.htm

Does it Only Apply to Males?

Allah (SWT) ordered His Messenger (SAW) to follow the way and religion of Ibraheem (AS) in His saying:

"Then, We have inspired you (O Muhammad (SAW) saying): "Follow the religion of Abraham (AS) Hanifan (Islamic Monotheism to worship none but Allah)…" (An-Nahl 16:123)

And circumcision if from his religion, and this nation is commanded with whatever its Prophet (SAW) was commanded unless there if further proof to show that it is something particular to him.

Narrated by Abu Hurairah (RA) who said: Allah's Messenger (SAW) said:

"The Fitrah (natural way) is five: circumcision, shaving the private parts, trimming the mustache, clipping the nails and plucking hair from the armpits." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

You mean the Koran actually dictates what kind of body and facial hair you're permitted to have?

Plucking out armpit hair?

Why hasn't Osama trimmed his moustache then?

Jail Mom, persue the other participants for attacking a Swedish national, good luck.

The mother has been jailed - this is how the issue of compensation came up - when you are the victim of a violent crime you can request damages at the sentencing hearing - which is what the girl did in this case.

Genital Mutilations on Migrant girls in Europe remains underestimated and underreported...Well, Sweden was the first country to outlaw this crime - but till today is not willing to fully implement the law and, what is even more important: is not willing and/or able to protect the girls...Read more about the devastating situation in Europe:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=34699

and

http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=34936

It is excellent that this girl earn a compensation for all her pain. And with this money, she will have the possibility to repair her clitoris.

Yes, here we have the chance to have the Dr Foldes, a French urologist and surgeon who had developed a technique to help victims of FMG get their clitoral sensation back. Further we have created Clitoraid dedicated to ending FGM once and for all and to raising funds to pay for the operations of as many women as possible. Clitoraid mission: to help a many FGM victims as possible regain their dignity and their sense of pleasure and in the process, help eliminate FMG.

Some information about the construction of the pleasure hospital in Burkina Faso.

http://www.clitoraid.org/download.php?list.6

Talk around you so that the world is changing for women

http://www.clitoraid.org : info@clitoraid.org :