Tel-Chai Nation

A Muslim doctor in Michigan was arrested, along with at least a few other people, for performing Female Genital Mutilation on a considerable number of girls, and it turns out the damage is even worse than initially assumed:

The Detroit Free Press reported Thursday that documents obtained by the paper show much more serious mutilation of Dr. Jumana Nagarwala’s alleged victims’ genitals than the doctor admitted.

The arrests of Dr. Nagarwala and two others last week represent the first federal female genital mutilation (FGM) investigation in United States history. FGM is common in the Islamic world, particularly in Africa. According to UNICEF, 98 percent of Somali girls and 87 percent of Egyptians have endured the procedure. FGM involves removing varying amounts of the victim’s — usually a pre-pubescent girl — clitoris, labia majoria, and labia minora. In its most extreme form, the victim is “infibulated,” having virtually all her external genitalia removed and being sewn up, leaving her with only a tiny hole from which to urinate and menstruate.

Nagarwala’s attorney, Shannon Smith, claimed in her initial court hearing that no cutting of the seven-year-old alleged victims took place and that excess skin was simply scraped off to be buried in a religious ceremony. The Free Press, however, reports that documents they reviewed show the injuries to the two Minnesota girls’ genitals were “much more severe” than Nagarwala is claiming.

The practice is as dangerous as it's repellent to women's health. The doctor was never qualified to be one in the first place and should be imprisoned for life, not to mention get her citizenship permit revoked.

Labels: Africa, Egypt, islam, michigan, misogyny, sexual violence, United States