New report finds half of female genital mutilation cases are in London, with 65,000 girls at risk across the country.

The London Assembly, an elected body, has called on the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan to lead a campaign to end “the hidden crime” of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the capital.

An estimated 170,000 women and girls in Britain have undergone FGM and 65,000 preteen girls are thought to be at risk, it said in a report.

The London Assembly is a part of the Greater London Authority that scrutinises the activities of the mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor’s annual budget and to reject the mayor’s draft statutory strategies.

Half of FGM cases recorded in the country are in London, where affected communities include Somalis, Sierra Leoneans, Eritreans and Sudanese.

The ritual, done for cultural, traditional or religious reasons, involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia. In some cases, the vaginal opening is also sewn up.

“FGM remains a hidden crime – still taking place behind closed doors, with many girls still at risk,” Jennette Arnold, deputy chairwoman of the elected assembly, said in a statement.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/london-assembly-urges-mayor-lead-campaign-fgm-170425061050262.html

A case of female genital mutilation was discovered every three days, on average, by maternity staff in Wales last year.

New figures obtained by BBC Wales show 123 victims of FGM were found by midwives or maternity doctors in 2016.

A further 44 children under the age of 18 were highlighted as vulnerable to the practice.

Charity Welsh Women’s Aid said figures showed just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Campaigners have previously called for a dedicated clinic to be opened in Walesto help FGM victims.

The statistics, provided by the seven Welsh health boards after a Freedom of Information request by BBC Wales, showed the highest number of cases – 53 – were recorded by Aneurin Bevan health board.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-39630199

A female Michigan doctor was charged on Thursday with performing female genital mutilation on minor girls aged 7.

This is the first time an indictment for FGM has been filed against a doctor since FGM on minors was outlawed in the United States twenty years ago.

Jumana Nagarwala, 44, performed the procedures in the Henry Ford hospital in Detroit. If guilty, she will face up to 10 years in prison.

“Despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth

Blanco said in a statement. “The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse.”

One of the girls was told the procedure would “get germs out of her,” while the other described pain radiating down to her ankles.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/228208

Unless the media talks about celebrities, politics, or President Donald Trump, our country doesn’t want to hear it.

But an ongoing movement is developing throughout the world to stop girls and women from undergoing female genital mutilation.

Primarily performed on girls between infancy and age 15, female genital mutilation, or FGM, entails all procedures that intentionally remove or injure female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

Though FGM is primarily concentrated in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, the United States is not excluded. An estimated 513,000 women and girls in the U.S. have undergone or are at risk of being exposed to FGM, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control Prevention.

Who would have foreseen that over half a million girls are affected by FGM in the U.S. alone?

International movement to end FGM develops