Somali woman convicted in UK for bringing child to Kenya for FGM
In a landmark case, Amina Noor, a 39-year-old a Somali woman from Harrow, northwest London, has been found guilty of aiding in the female genital mutilation (FGM) of a three-year-old British child in Kenya.
In a landmark case, Amina Noor, a 39-year-old a Somali woman from Harrow, northwest London, has been found guilty of aiding in the female genital mutilation (FGM) of a three-year-old British child in Kenya. Noor, who hails from Somalia and holds British citizenship, is the first person to be convicted for assisting in the performance of FGM outside the UK.
During the trial at the Old Bailey, Noor claimed that the procedure was conducted for cultural reasons and revealed that she had undergone it herself as a child. She is scheduled to be sentenced on 20 December.
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The case came to light in 2015 when the now 21-year-old victim confided in a schoolteacher about her experience, leading to police involvement. A subsequent examination at University College Hospital in 2019 confirmed the complete removal of the victim's clitoris.
Despite Noor's assertions of cultural pressure, the prosecution argued that she was fully aware of the nature of the procedure, pointing to inconsistencies in her statements to the authorities. Noor denied being threatened, although the prosecutor emphasized her failure to ensure medical supervision or her own presence during the procedure, raising concerns about her conduct at the time of the incident.
FGM is a widespread practice within the Somali community in East Africa, with the court hearing that 94 percent of Somali women in Kenya have undergone the procedure, according to United Nations data.
Information extracted from BBC.
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