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Posts Tagged ‘victims’

FGM: A tale of force, emotional blackmail and evil dreams

She saw the blade, but dared not move. That was the command! If she did, it would haunt her, her children and the generations to come. That was the cultural notion.

Syada Chebet (middle) is now an activist against Female Genital Mutilation in her village

She saw the blade, but dared not move. That was the command! If she did, it would haunt her, her children and the generations to come. That was the cultural notion.

_______________________________________

Syada Chebet, only a teenager then, told herself it was indeed for the best. So if she braved the knife, that funny-looking blade, just for a second, it would be just fine.

Her future would be just fine.  It was only part of her genitalia, it should be fine, she thought.

“It will not take long, it cannot take long,” she soothed herself.  She would let the wrinkly and mean-looking old lady sucking on a tobacco pipe, cut her genitalia. After all, they said it should take a second, right? No, it did not!

The closer, the rusty blade got, the more frightened she got. So, she thought to herself: “I can run, I will run!” Sadly, before she could react, two giant men tore her thighs apart, and pressed them on each side.

“Stay down!” they commanded, all the while stepping on her thighs.

The old woman, also the village’s mutilation surgeon, had since abandoned her pipe and had now started speaking like she was possessed. With her rough fingers, the old woman latched onto Chebet’s genitalia, and pulled.

Read More: http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1413895/fgm-tale-force-emotional-blackmail-evil-dreams

Met police not prepared in dealing with honour crimes, new report finds

The Metropolitan police (MPS) needs to be more prepared for how it would protect victims of honour based violence.

A new report, the first of its kind on honour crimes, found the force is under-prepared in keeping victims of forced marriages and female genital mutilation safe.

The report, carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), identified that the MPS struggled with enforcing protection and preventing the crimes from taking place. Honour-based violence is the term used to refer to practices used to control the behaviour of women and girls in order to protect supposed cultural and religious beliefs.

The London Borough of Hounslow was recognised last week for its work to eradicate violence against women, but it appears more work is yet to be done across London. A spokesperson for the Met told Getwestlondon: “The MPS is committed to continuing to work with affected communities, health, education, social care and other partners to tackle and eradicate honour-based abuse and harmful practises in all its forms.

“By working with affected communities, charities and public services, we aim to get a better understanding of the risks faced by victims to prevent such crimes taking place, safeguard victims and where appropriate bring offenders to justice.”

Read More: http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/met-police-not-prepared-dealing-10565981http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/met-police-not-prepared-dealing-10565981

Victims of honour crimes being failed by ‘majority of police forces’, says inspectorate

Victims of honour based violence are being failed by the majority of police forces in England and Wales, according to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

In its first ever inspection of the way police deal with honour-based violence, including female genital mutilation and forced marriage, HMIC reveals that just three out of 43 forces are properly prepared to deal with cases. And almost half of forces are not ready when it comes to being able to protect victims.

riting in the foreword, Sir Thomas Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, says: “Our findings show that honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation are not yet being given the priority by the police service that victims deserve.”

The inspectors warn that existing laws do not fully cover the range of risks faced by victims. Although forced marriage and female genital mutilation are criminal offences in their own right, the report warns that there is “no bespoke provision in law for the protection of victims”in cases of honour-based violence which do not include these crimes.

Responding to the findings, Yasmin Khan, director of Halo Project, a charity which helps people who have suffered honour-based violence, said: “It is absolutely paramount that police and safeguarding agencies act swiftly and deal with risks associated with this abhorrent abuse. Too many victims are suffering unnecessarily due to the lack of training and procedures within many organisations.”

Blake Lively Is Calling Attention to a Terrifying Truth: Female Genital Mutilation Occurs in America, Too

Blake Lively may have shuttered her platform Preserve, but that hasn’t stopped the star from speaking out about things she thinks are important—including protecting and supporting women.

Today on Instagram, Lively launched an initiative to call attention to FGM—female genital mutilation—a procedure that involves removing parts or all of a woman’s genitals for non-medical reasons. It’s long been practiced in parts of Africa and was recently banned in Nigeria, but Lively points out the chilling fact that FGM isn’t just something that happens in other places—it’s right in our own backyard.

Read More: http://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/news/a16755/blake-lively-fgm-instagram/

Newham has second highest number of reported honour based crime in London

Statistics from a Freedom of Information request to the Met revealed that Newham had 59 reports of honour related crime since 2010.

According to the figures, the borough came joint second with neighbouring Redbridge for the number of reported honour crimes in London, while Brent topped the list with 82 incidents.

Sudarshan Bhuhi, chief executive officer of Stratford charity Aanchal Women’s Aid, said she was not surprised by the figures and that she believes more incidents may be going unreported.

She added: “The issue is quite close to my heart.

“I have been working in here and the economic divide is so diverse – there’s not enough funds for specialised support.” Balvinder Saund, of the Sikh Women’s Alliance (SWA) in Ilford, explained that the “idea of honour” was still present.

“It’s about control and subservience. These old ways of thinking should be left behind – there’s no place for it,” she said. A Newham Council spokesman explained confidential support is available to all victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

Read More: http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/newham_has_second_highest_number_of_reported_honour_based_crime_in_london_1_4295030

FGM: reporting of cases among children becomes mandatory

A duty on all teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers to report child cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) to the police will come into force next week.

New legislation announced earlier this year make such disclosures mandatory and professionals who fail to report the illegal practice in under-18s could face the sack.

Under the new law, health and social-care professionals and teachers in England and Wales will be obliged to report all cases of known FGM in under-18s, whether it is disclosed by the victim or seen by the professional.

Failure to report cases within a month, unless there are “exceptional” safeguarding issues, could result in the professionals facing internal disciplinary action or referral to regulators, which could bar them from practice.

At a conference on Monday, Karen Bradley, minister for preventing abuse and exploitation, announced the legal obligation would begin on 31 October.

Read more: http://Health professionals are required to report cases among children within a month, unless there are exceptional safeguarding issues. Failure to do so could result in them being referred to regulators.

Girl forced to marry a 78-year-old when she was just NINE is freed after four years of marriage in Kenya

A girl in Kenya who was forced to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather when she was only nine years old has been freed after four years of hell.

Younis, 13, who is part of the Samburu tribe, was married off by her parents in accordance to tribal custom, which also includes female genital mutilation and offering girls to male relatives for sex.

She was forced to live with the 78-year-old man for four years until she escaped and walked barefoot to a boarding school for girls called the Samburu Girls Foundation.

Tragic tale: Younis endured four years of  trauma after being married off to a 78-year-old man by her parents

Explaining her harrowing and heartbreaking tale, Younis told CNN: ‘When I was about nine years old, my father married me off to an old man who was 78 years old’  ‘He told me that I will be a wife but I was just innocent, I wanted to come to school. But that man wanted me to be a third wife. I told him, I will not be your wife, and he caned me.’

Luckily for Younis and around 200 other girls across Kenya, the Samburu Girls Foundation offered her a way out.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3269250/Girl-forced-marry-78-year-old-just-NINE-freed-four-years-marriage-Kenya.html#ixzz3oN2YsyNl

Forced marriage in Britain: It nearly happened to me

Last year in the UK, 1,267 people were assisted by the government’s Forced Marriage Unit. Add to this the number of people supported by specialist independent charities, as well as local police forces up and down the country, and you have a figure running well into the thousands. In Channel 4’s powerful documentary Forced Marriage Cops (going out this evening) director Anna Hall and her team follow the work of police officers in Greater Manchester as they investigate 250 cases of forced marriage over the course of 12 months.

This wasn’t an easy programme for me to watch. It’s been almost 20 years since the police and local authorities helped me escape from my family because of abuse and the threat of forced marriage. So much time has passed now, and it’s more than jarring to see past experiences reflected so powerfully on camera in the lives of other women like my siblings and I. Forced Marriage Cops focuses on the stories of several women, and each one illustrates the different ways that victims can be affected by forced marriage.

Read More:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11899171/Forced-marriage-in-Britain-It-nearly-happened-to-me.html

Muslim father strangled daughter, 19, to death in ‘honour killing’ after she was caught stealing condoms for sex with her forbidden boyfriend in Germany

Muslim father strangled daughter, 19, to death in ‘honour killing’ after she was caught stealing condoms for sex with her forbidden boyfriend in Germany. Khan, 51, with tears streaming down his face, admitted the killing because in his eyes she had brought ‘dishonour’ on the family with her love for a boy he didn’t approve of. He and his wife were wed in an arranged marriage and he wanted the same for her.

Khan and his wife, originally from Pakistan, are on trial for murder at the State Court in Darmstadt. Shazia, 41, described how she was a downtrodden woman, totally in the thrall of her husband, and unable to save her daughter.

The court heard how the parents sent Lareeb’s sister Nida, 14, to a relative on the evening of the murder in January this year.

Nida gave evidence against both her parents, saying her mother was as strict as their father, often striking both of them.

The mother held out her arms to Nida when she appeared in court on Friday but Nida refused to acknowledge her.

Nida said: ‘My Mama was not suppressed, she could do what she wanted. She used to hit me with a stick.

‘We were never allowed to talk about her boyfriend. My father used to say my sister should be forcibly married in Pakistan.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3251787/Muslim-father-strangled-daughter-19-death-honour-killing-caught-stealing-condoms-sex-forbidden-boyfriend-Germany.html#ixzz3n2MD1EKN

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