Here’s what an actual “war on women” looks like:
A case of female genital mutilation (FGM) is reported in England every 109 minutes new figures show – however experts warn this could be the “tip of the iceburg”.
The latest six months figures published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that 2,421 cases of FGM were reported between April and September 2015.
The statistics include newly recorded cases of women who were cut many years ago, but have only now approached the authorities. [via The Independent]
These new numbers are slightly higher than the number of FGM cases reported over the same period in 2014 — which I wrote about at the time not simply because it’s a horrific phenomenon deserving of attention, but because it’s always curiously reported. To that point, here’s the next line from The Independent, cited above: “FGM is carried out for cultural, religious and social reasons within families and communities where it is believed to be a necessary preparation for adulthood and marriage.”
True. But which cultures? Which religions? Hint: It’s not Anglicans. Tanya Barron, CEO of the anti-FGM charity Plan UK, responded to the new report by calling FGM a “hidden danger threatening girls at home and around the world.” It’s noble work Ms. Barron is doing, but let’s be frank: FGM is not spontaneously afflicting preteen and teenage girls; it’s not an illness being randomly caught. It’s a barbarous act being perpetrated by parents of young girls in specific and identifiable cultural/religious groups.
Refusing to acknowledge that reality does not help to protect vulnerable women; it aids those who seek to repress them.