Tuesday, June 05, 2012

France Hands Down Shockingly Lenient Sentences To Parents of FGM Victims

Before we crack on with the current post, I thought it might be prudent to import something I said previously in a post entitled: Democracy! I’ll Take Anarchy Any Day. A bizarre enough post in its own right, but certainly pertinent to this post, if only to highlight the (misogynist) attitudes of the Georgia House of Representatives.

But it is for more reasons than that, that I make use of the words. The pathetically lenient sentience handed down to the father and mother, twenty four and eighteen months respectively, for systematically maiming and disfiguring their own four daughters, is I think, and particularly for France, is nothing short of an outrage, and in itself borders on the criminal.

The text below is response to the sentencing guidelines recommended by the Georgia House of Representatives in regard to legislation banning the practice of female genital mutilation. (FGM) What I must stress however, is just how polite I am being regarding my feelings to acts of such barbarity.


Two to twenty years; I wouldn’t have a problem with the full twenty being handed down to any parent who subjected a daughter to such a selfish act of barbarism, in fact if religion were cited as the reason for carrying out this heinous act, I would give them forty years.

And my reasons would not be, as you might have so easily gathered, that I am anti religion, for this practice is nothing whatsoever to do with religion, it is but for the purposes of subjugating women and robbing them of their sexuality and as such, make them less likely to “stray.” And in doing so, bolster against the overriding insecurity of the misogynist males that abound in the countries where this practice still takes place.
As I said above, it is a bizarre post, because the House went on to include a ban female genital piercings, displaying in the twenty first century, attitudes that are simply astounding.

The legislation applies only to females mind you, it doesn't apply to the male of the species. Democracy! I’ll Take Anarchy Any Day

A slight change from original plans, the Wail has a more comprehensive article than the one I intended to employ.


Islamic holy man and his wife are jailed for mutilating the genitals of their four daughters

Victims sob in court as parents are led away
Minister brands female circumcision a 'grave crime'
By Craig Mackenzie
3 June 2012

An Islamic holy man and his wife have been jailed for the genital mutilation of their four daughters.

The case has shocked France and was branded by a female government minister as a 'grave crime' and an 'intolerable affront to women's dignity.'

All four of the victims, now aged between 11 and 20, were in court to hear the sentence and wept and cried out as their parents were led away from the dock.

The unnamed father was sentenced to two years and his wife got 18 months for allowing a 'doctor' to remove parts of their vaginas.

They were charged with ‘complicity in voluntary violence having led to mutilation by an older person of a minor under the age of 15 years’ , a crime punishable by a maximum of 20 years jail.

The father was said to be a ‘ marabout’ - an Arabic word for an Islamic ascetic holy man alleged to be endowed with magical powers.

The couple originally came from the west African state of Guinea where according to a 2007 study, 96 per cent of young girls have their genitals mutilated in the name of religion. More with photo's.
More in the sidebar under FGM. A previous French related issue posted under the 'Us and Them' tag: 'Your religious values are not superior to the laws of the republic.' French Muslim Jailed

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

The two eldest girls defended their parents action, saying that they did not understand why they were appearing in court.

Sobbing in the witness box, the mother told the court that she now regretted what had happened.

'Now I would be less passive', she said. 'Circumcision is not good.'

bit.ly/LbP8rP
-----------------------------------

I wonder if the mother is telling from her own experience when she says "circumcision is not good."

"Now I would be less passive". Can I conclude that she could have prevented the circumcision?

It is so strange that the two eldest daughters defend their parents action. Maybe I can understand that they don’t want to see their parents being locked up, but defending their action? What about their little sisters and other girls and what about their own daughters they may have possibly. I can’t find a story of a woman who is happy with her genital mutilation.

A bizarre balance of power.

And who is the 'doctor', male or female?

Himself said...

Good morning Maren.

'Now I would be less passive', she said. 'Circumcision is not good.'

If I were to guess, I would say that she is referring to her own passivity regarding the butchering of her daughters; succumbing to tradition and no doubt, the will of her husband.

That is, if for one minute I believed her, which I don't. It's quite easy to utter words of remorse when you are stood in the dock.

But in all honesty, how can you begin to analyse the thought process of "parents" like these?

We can't, we don't have the wiring for it. It is beyond our ken. (understanding)

Shafilea Ahmed 2008

http://bit.ly/MrN3Vu

Shafilea Ahmed This week.

http://bit.ly/MQguH8

crackdown on forced marriages expected tomorrow

http://bit.ly/L27VWX

Nice of them to finally get around to it.

But coming back to the article in question and the hocus pocus, mumbo jumbo.

Black African marabouts, or sorcerers as they are termed by other branches of Islam who condemn their practices, use talismans to exert their powers .

They are said to be able to cure illnesses and restore whole communities to wellbeing simply by waving feathers and intoning magical words.


They say these days that we are all Africans, that's as may be; it's just that intellectually we haven't all come down from the trees.

Anonymous said...

I shall not try to analyse the thought process of "parents" like these, after all it’s hard enough to follow your own thoughts.

As for the article in question, without doubt, as you say, succumbing to tradition, but I doubt "the will of her husband" in some cases. I don’t have a convincing argument for that, only talks with Muslim women here, including mothers. Without putting all eggs in one basket, in a certain way they don’t come across as submissive. Also, I experienced little loyalty to other women, including to their own daughters as well as girls mutually, when it comes to personal freedom.

But I guess I better echo your words, it is beyond our ken. M

Anonymous said...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentis
free/2011/mar/21/turkish-honour-
seriously-misguided

Himself said...

Thanks Chuck, as you probably know, I have just read and tweeted something similar.

Anonymous said...

http://www.rt.com/news/germany-
religious-circumcision-ban-772/

Himself said...

Maren, good morning.

Thank you, I did in fact see that as a tweet late last night.

But it is of something else that I wish to speak of, yer man Knight.

What you said previously becomes so much clearer now, for I have just opened the link that Knight left on my blog post. So much clearer in fact, that it gave rise to me leaving this comment on Religious Poisons blog. (Am I not a perfect God?) Not published as yet due to the time difference.

---------------------------------

Good morning, forgive me I don't know your name, but I can only assume it is yourself that left me comments/advice at my blog post, Can You Overdose on Irony....

The comments that you made have suddenly taken on a whole new meaning, for it is only in the last minute or two that I opened and read the content leading from the 'narcissist-atheist' link left by your man Knight.

Wow! It doesn't come any more disturbed than that does it? Little wonder his parents are perturbed, and well they should be, anybody with so much anger in him, would be I shouldn't wonder, potentially, quite a serious threat to those around him. I hope they have the gun cabinet well secured, I think Knight's potential, for one day loosing his already extremely tentative hold on reality, is far more than a remote possibility. Heaven forbid that he should take up Christ's 'work' in earnest.

I am at present, writing this on your latest post, but I think it might be prudent to move my comment to a post lower down the page, I should hate to be a trigger for what I feel must be inevitable, a tragedy involving far more people than just Knight himself. It's not as though the warning signs aren't already there is it?

Although it's not your responsibility, and I don't even share the same continent with you, but as an act of kindness to Knight, and potentially lots of others, is there some way, someone in authority might be made aware of this fellow's anger and state of mind? Because quite frankly, and although I am not a psychiatrist, I feel the fellow is more than disturbed, I think in fact, he is quite insane.

You will of course have my email address, should you wish to use it to communicate, please feel free.

Regards,
H

--------------------------------

And in all honesty Maren, I mean every word of of.

Your man is seriously disturbed. That he posts his comments twice is a fair indicator, but just look at the tags he has put on his own rant against me. That is seriously over the edge.

"Don't take the piss out of the afflicted" is quite a common adage here, I shan't any more with this fellow, because afflicted takes on a whole new meaning where this fellow is concerned.

What a way to start a morning, I feel worn out already.

I bet we have a few thoughts in common regarding Knight, but none more so I'll wager than: I'm glad I don't live next door to him.

Himself said...

I think yer man is from Nevada.

Nevada & Local Gun Laws

http://www.nsrpa.us/legal/nevlocal.html

Anonymous said...

bit.ly/KPzrYY
bit.ly/OAX9t3

see you tomorrow Mx

Anonymous said...

As for knight, downright scary and intensely sad at the same time,
evokes the C psycho feeling. I hope someone can help him.

You made an excellent comment H on Religious Poisons blog. I think your own blog post - perhaps initially not intended in that way - will have a positive effect, e.g. serious comments.

What a way to start a night. X

Himself said...

How on earth did you find those?

I think I've an idea, I think I might give Mr Knight a Google.

I nearly missed the first one because the vid is down.

Himself said...

Repetitive behaviour i commonly linked to autism.

I did find this though.


Symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are:

Obsessions – unwanted, repetitive and intrusive ideas, impulses or images
Compulsions – repetitive behaviors or mental acts usually performed to reduce the distress associated with obsessions

Common obsessions include:

Persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one
Unreasonable concern with being contaminated
Unacceptable religious, violent, or sexual thoughts
Excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly

Common compulsions include:

Excessive checking of door locks, stoves, water faucets, light switches, etc.
Repeatedly making lists, counting, arranging, or aligning things
Collecting and hoarding useless objects
Repeating routine actions a certain number of times until it feels just right
Unnecessary re-reading and re-writing
Mentally repeating phrases

http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/services/behhealth/adultservices/adultbehhealthproblems.asp

http://djknight.livejournal.com/

http://calvinistcorner.com/

And I think I have had my fill of Knight for a good while.

Himself said...

It's quite lengthy, and not the most cheerful subject in the world, but it is well researched and interesting nevertheless.

http://socialhistory.org/sites/default/files/docs/projects/eugenics.pdf

But my goodness, haven't we come a long way in three generations, in understanding human sexuality and the human psyche in general.

Well in Europe we have.

Anonymous said...

OMG

http://calvinistcorner.com/Jesus-tulip

Anonymous said...

Thanks H for the social history link, lengthy, but interesting and well researched as you say. M

Himself said...

http://calvinistcorner.com/

I did actually follow the video link on the front page earlier on. All it was was yer man spouting the very same.

I lasted about a minute.

Himself said...

Jeebus! I hope he never latches on to my Twitter Account. I suppose he could always be blocked though.

Did you check out his dead bunny photos? How feckin weird is that?

Strange, I have the email alert, but not your comment.

Anonymous said...

schizo, sort of C psycho

? tech-illiterate

Himself said...

responds to his own tweets, sometimes bit.ly/P6RaO9

I did go back and have a proper look. I'm not being nasty, but he is in dire need of help/medication or something.

Anonymous said...

Calvinism
bit.ly/RICa6E
bit.ly/MaWOxP

Anonymous said...

bit.ly/N6IB2b
http://exm.nr/McTcpM
bit.ly/Ojom2m

Anonymous said...

http://bit.ly/L3eg0Z

Himself said...

New Mexico it is then.

I had trouble deciding if it was a picture of his bedroom or a brain scan?

Are we like moths drawn to the flame, we don't want to be there but the attraction (to insanity) is just too great?

I don't know what else out of the list fits our Daniel, but these two certainly do.

Common obsessions include:

Unacceptable religious, violent, or sexual thoughts


Common compulsions include:

Collecting and hoarding useless objects

Unnecessary re-reading and re-writing
Mentally repeating phrases


I'm only just up, the result of some borrowed sleeepers, Amitriptyline, I sleep like a log on them, which is nice I must admit.

More tea, then bloody housework today. My cleaner passed away recently.

Housework and gardening, bah humbug!

Anonymous said...

Time to give the garden a rest.

Meanwhile in France:

French protests against gay marriage.

enfant = 1 papa + 1 maman

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/11/201211184428164940.html

and

France issues 'wedding kits' to fight divorce.

http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/2342

Oh, the irony.

Himself said...

Who was it that said, I believe in gay marriage, why shouldn't they be as miserable as the rest of us?

Funnily enough, I've just come out of my garden too.

We plough the fields and scatter, the good seed on the land.

Right honey bun, if I can find a decent stream, I am going to watch the Grand Prix from Ameriki.

Anonymous said...

the face of homophobia
http://on.fb.me/16FTEGt

http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201304092055-0022667

Anonymous said...

http://www.euronews.com/2013/04/11/homophobic-attack-sparks-paris-protests/