This must not continue!!!
From the Ottawa Citizen:
‘A doctor in Britain faces up to 14 years in prison under that country’s Female Mutilation Act for allegedly performing an operation that is condoned in Canada by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists as part of a “culturally competent” approach to medical care.’
…
Dr. Margaret Burnett, an ob/gyn in Winnipeg, says that when women who have been the victim of infibulation have babies, their labia often have to be cut open for the baby to come out. After, she says, requests for reinfibulation are relatively common. That’s because it is considered normal for women who come from countries where FGM is widely done, mostly Africa and the Middle East.
“It’s my impression that we do get many requests for this and almost all of them come from the husbands,” Burnett says. “They want their wives closed again.”
In Canada, the ob/gyn society’s new guidelines, issued last November, suggest doctors explain the dangers of reinfibulation to patients, and that requests for the procedure “should be declined.”
That’s a softening from a policy statement issued 20 months earlier, which stipulated that requests for the operation “must be declined.”
…
Burnett, chair of the society’s social sexual committee that helped draw up the guidelines, says the approach was softened to be more culturally accepting. The change was made after speaking to immigrant women who have been through FGM.
…
Burnett says she herself has performed reinfibulations…
…
Dr. Beverley Chalmers, adjunct professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Ottawa, believes that caregivers in Canada should not be permitted to perform any form of genital mutilation that is not clinically necessary.
“To hide behind ‘cultural accommodation’ to permit the practice of FGM, or any other practice that is unquestionably harmful, is a craven distortion of political correctness … (and) is simply moral cowardice,” she says.
Kowser Omer-Hashi, a Somali-Canadian who wrote a book with Chalmers about Somali women’s birthing experiences in Canada, is shocked that Canadian society appears to tacitly allow reinfibulations. She remembers being mutilated — her clitoris cut and infibulated — as a child.
“I will never forget when I first had to pee,” she says. “The pain is indescribable.” ‘
This is outrageous!
We must not permit this horrible torture to be accepted – and performed by doctors – in Canada and other countries which would like to consider themselves ‘civilized’!!!
I am so angry, my hands are shaking…
Please, let your federal and provincial legislators know that you want genital mutilation to become illegal, with hefty jail sentences for both those who perform it and the parents who commission it.
Also, please let the Canadian Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians – the organization which has now made female genital mutilation legal for doctors to perform in Canada – please, let them know exactly what you think about this change in their policy:
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada
780 Echo Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5R7Tel: 613-730-4192
or 1-800-561-2416
Fax: 613-730-4314
Email: helpdesk@sogc.comOffice Hours
Mon-Fri: 8:30am-4:30pm (EST)
While you are at it, why not let Dr. Burnett, the MD who pushed for this change and has admitted to having performed reinfibulations (that is sewing the vagina shut, to be ripped open during intercourse), why not let the doctor herself know your opinions about the practice in general and her culpability in perpetuating sexual torture in particular:
Burnett Margaret Dr Obstetrician & Gynecologist
- Phone:
- (204) 787-1961
- E-mail:
- Send message
Who is Dr. Burnett?
A simple google search (which is how I got the above information) also reveals this:
Margaret Ann Burnett, MD, BA (HONS), MA, CCFP, FRCSCProfessor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba
Associate Head, Academic, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Manitoba
Director of Post Graduate Medical Education, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Manitoba
Section Head, Gynecology, Women’s Hospital, Winnipeg
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 
April 16, 2014 at 08:48
SOGC Website, April 15, 2014
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada is opposed to Female Genital Mutilation and Reinfibulation.
The SOGC Clinical Practice Guideline on Female Genital Cutting is quite clear that the SOGC condemns this practice, and that FGM and Reinfibulation should NOT be done.
The SOGC, however, DOES NOT condemn the women who have been subjected to FGM; we recognize that these women are often discriminated against, and do require, as every woman does, compassionate care.
April 17, 2014 at 18:46
If SOGC truly contemns this practice, it would have retained the guideline that reinfibulation MUST not be done, as it had up until November of 2013, when it changed its stand on the matter to the wishy-washy ‘SHOULD’ – which, of course, is no longer a ban.
Apologists for barbarism such as reinfibulation must be called out. And softening your stand to anything short of an outright ban makes you an apologist!
Shame on you!!!
April 17, 2014 at 21:36
Xanthippa:
On the one hand, I completely agree with your censure of the practice of infibulation.
On the other hand, I censure even more strongly any law or official policy that interferes with people’s right to do as they please with their own bodies.
Therefore I think the SOGC has taken the correct position in saying, essentially, that it condemns but does not forbid this practice.
April 17, 2014 at 23:58
In principle, I would be in agreement with you.
However, one cannot sufficiently stress that women in this situation, even if they appear to agree, may in fact be under serious behind-the-scenes coercion and that it is consent under duress. After all, in societies where reinfibulation is practiced, the woman is denied free will and must consent to submit to the will of her guardian.
If the option is not available, women will not be coerced into it.
As it is, it is offered and fully taxpayer funded….
I have not ever had a problem with people self mutilating of their own free will and on their own dime.
But, when a woman is in a position where she is forced to submit to the will of her guardian, I do not believe she is capable of giving free and informed consent.
April 18, 2014 at 23:31
Xanthippa:
This is the exact same argument feminists use to discredit people who teach their daughters traditional family values.
The exact same argument progressives use to discredit people who teach their children not to be ashamed of being white.
The argument doesn’t suddenly become valid when used to support a viewpoint I happen to agree with.
All people spend their formative years under the influence of their parents and guardians.
If our society that does not respect the freedom of conscience of those parents and guardians – and their right to teach their children accordingly – then we have already descended into totalitarianism.
To paraphrase Chomsky, if you don’t believe in freedom of conscience for people you despise, then you don’t believe in it at all.
April 18, 2014 at 23:59
I totally get where you are coming from.
But, I think it is important to recognize that when the woman is living in situation where she is under duress, having been a subject of religious as well as cultural brainwashing, we are talking a whole different paradigm.
April 19, 2014 at 21:30
Xanthippa:
So… any woman who is married to a Muslim, or was brought up by Muslims, is living under duress and has been subjected to religious and cultural brainwashing.
Therefore she cannot be trusted to make up her own mind about anything, because she will very likely make choices we don’t like.
Well, if I were a cultural Marxist, I would let you make this argument, and then I would replace “Muslim” by “Classical Liberal” and hoist you on your own petard.
Be careful what you wish for… you might get it.
April 28, 2014 at 09:46
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