A man and a woman have been charged following investigations into allegations of female genital mutilation of two girls, aged nine and 12, south of Brisbane.
Detectives from the Logan District Child Protection and Investigation Unit conducted a joint investigation with other agencies after allegations the young girls were removed from Queensland in April 2015 and taken to Africa for the procedure.
“The practice of female genital mutilation and the removal of a child from the state for female genital mutilation are serious criminal offences,” Detective Inspector Christopher Jory said.
“This offence was introduced as legislation in Queensland in 2000 and carry penalties of up to 14 years’ imprisonment.”
A 53-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman, both from Underwood, have been charged with two counts each of removing a child from the state for female genital mutilation.
The couple will appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on December 16.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
Hi - I don't normally comment on articles but I feel that this is very important.
My son was circumcised. At 3yrs old. He kept getting infections, was often crying in pain. I did not take the decision lightly, but felt I had no choice. It was not cruel, what would have been cruel was to have him suffer. My son will still enjoy sex as much as uncircumcised man. My son, once healed from the initial procedure, will not suffer resultant pain.
However, FGM is an entirely different practice. It CAUSES infection. It is unhealthy and results in lifelong pain. It dramatically increases the risk of death in childbirth. It cruelly takes away the female orgasm. Nobody has the right to do that to someone.
Comparing male and female circumcision is like comparing apples and bananas. Technically same family but drastically different. FGM is a crime against women.
Totally agree with you. I would have just said that anyone who compares the two are offensive idiots, but you said it way better :)
Yes I agree, it's like the difference between cutting someone's hair and cutting someone's head off.
In fact FGM is equivalent to a man being castrated, it should never have been called circumsicion in the first place, I'm glad it's no longer called that.
I agree. When this topic is raised, people should not bring up removing a baby boys foreskin; they are completely different. (And I think I'm more entitled than anyone else to say that, because I'm a male and it was done to me.)
I have been an avid supporter of the removal of this practice since I learned of it when I was 12 years old, actively sending letters, writing essays for school, and also educating others.
I am not going to talk more about this, however what I will talk about and something that angers me, is how this is considered illegal yet the same practice of the forcible cutting away flesh from a boy, flesh that is fused to the glans of a penis and must be first torn from their body, is somehow considered perfectly socially acceptable and carries no penalty.
This is a massive double standard, and is horrible.
No child should ever have something done to physically changed their body unless it is for life threatening reasons, without the child's permission.
How would you like someone to carry a grown man and force them to have their foreskin removes, seems horrid right?
And if the rebuttal is it would reduce infection etc, so does teaching the child to clean. The rebuttal that it reduces HIV, that was one study which has since been proven wrong. That phimosis needs the removal of this skin to be rectified, a complete fallacy. That it reduces UTIs, that is only in minor occurances, and still does not warrant the drastic amputation of flesh.
Grown men, particularly older men don't need to be forced they go willingly, and there is no tearing!, if you're going to have such a strong opinion (either side) at least educate yourself on the current procedures, from a non-activist site preferably.
My partner had to have a circumcision for medical reasons. He physically couldn't pull his foreskin over the head of his penis, causing it to split and tear whenever he tried anything sexual. There are reasons for male circumcision, there is no excuse for FGM.
I did not compare the two, bar the removal of righys.
I said what I said as I have perosnally known two men whom have had severe complications from circumcision. One resulted in the complete removal of his penis due to a botched circumcision. The other has NO sensory feeling in the glans at all. The latter occured over a decade of time, he wasnt even aware much of the issue and went to the doctor after encouragement from myself due to lack of sexual pleasure, theu could not reach orgasm easily at all.
Why would anyone want a mistake like that to occur if it was just a choice you make?
And yes men are forced to be circumcised, look at the xhosa people in South Africa.
My interest in this came from dating the man i also refrenced prior, whom had it forcibly removed as a teenager and suffered consequences. From there I learned nore through doctors, through peer reciewed studies and sites such as below.
I am not an idiot, nor am I ignorant. I am increidbly passionate that no harm comes to a child regardless of what sexual organs they have. Not one part of a child should be removed, unless for serious medical conditions, without their permission. I do not think we can ever rank one thing being worse, that is so wrong to even consider. Imagine if i removed, without permission, someones little toe or an arm, do we sit there and say well one is worse? Heck no, it's wrong, whether by an inch or a mile. Its wrong. And to think anything different means you may potnetially be ageist and not giving children the right to bodily integrity, the same we expect.
https://www.psychologytoday...
And there you have it.....your medical information comes from a psychologist, who gets their information from an activist site, the psychologist didn't even write it (NOTE: Primary author is Lillian Dell'Aquila Cannon) an activist, who links the activist site Peacful Parenting as a source....,.. this is EXACTLY my point, misinformation!. The rate of complications in western medicine is extremely low, there are also many causes of sensitivity reduction or loss, masturbation is one of the biggest contributing factors, non medical friction or chafing causes are easily reversed with proper care.