Absolutely disgusting. This is said to be the first prosecution of its kind. I hope she goes to prison and never regains her medical license. Those poor little girls. The parents should be punished too.
Hope the parents will be prosecuted as well.
The parents and the doctor should have the book thrown at them, and if someone tries to come up with the argument this is their religious belief or culture they should be tied to an anthill and covered in honey. Yeah, I have heard people compare this to male circumcision but that is a load of utter BS, whether circumcision is necessary or not is debatable, but by any way, shape and form it is not the same thing. Doesn’t sound like the authorities put any particular effort into looking into this, sounds to me a bit like the 'I am shocked to find out this has been going on, shocked" kind of thing, or ‘cultural sensitivity’ made them afraid to check into thing. Sorry, but this kind of thing makes me sick to my stomach and I am too much of a cynic to not believe that the lack of attention paid to this was deliberate.
Wow, my D’s friend is an OB/GYN resident at this hospital. She wasn’t there at that time, but I wonder if she knows the doctor. How awful!
This sickens me, I hope the parents and Dr are prosecuted. I hope the parents lose custody.
Another who hopes every single person involved in this is prosecuted. The health officials, parents, etc.
Horrific. Disgusting.
ETA: OMG. They live in the town literally across the street from me. And the hospital where it happened is about 5 minutes away.
Disturbing beyond words but I’m surprised I haven’t seen it blowing up my newsfeed.
As disturbed as I am by the Dr. I am even more distressed at the parents who would choose to have this done to their daughters. I admit that that I don’t understand the culture that would approve of such atrocities but regardless it is illegal here and both the Dr. And the parents (or whoever else initiated the assault) should be prosecuted.
Plus, they called it a “girls trip” as if it were a special occasion. Horrible! What a betrayal by the parents. I can only assume that the mothers had it done to them during their childhood and swallowed all their sorrow and denial and twisted it into a feeling that it must be OK somehow since it was done to them.
The culture behind it is misogyny, pure and simple, it is the idea that they need to control a girl’s sexuality because otherwise they won’t be able to control themselves. This is not female circumcision, this is literally removing the areas that control sexual pleasure to diminish or get rid of it. The attitude behind this is not exactly new and has been/is common in more than a few traditions, but this is an extreme action on that belief and there is absolutely no justification for it, and if one more granola head tells me it is ‘cultural relativism’ they won’t like the response.
musicprint–have any “granola heads” actually made remarks to you about “cultural relativism”?
There is more coming out about the story and circumstances but I haven’t seen anybody condoning the action in any way, shape or form in the following comments.
I read articles a few years ago where doctors in England faked the operation to appease parents… In interviews they said they tried to educate parents (limited success but there was some) but then were afraid if they didn’t do it (or rather, not do it) then the parents would take the child to someone else. The area had a high foreign population.
I have no idea what educational efforts are already being made to dissuade parents from doing something so horrible to their daughters. Hoping the arrest of a doctor who performs the operation (and conviction) will send a strong message. But this is only one doctor–(and we assume actual doctors unfortunately)–how about the rest?
I know way more than my fair share of so called granola heads. They’re all dead set against these things (and male circumcision but that’s for another thread).
I don’t know liberals anywhere on the spectrum who condone this.
@romanigypsyeyes , The problem I have is that people can actively support cultural practices that are directly a result of misogyny and the control of women’s sexuality, such as the various forms of veiling, ranging from a head scarf to complete coverage. So they draw the line at genital mutilation. How can they explain this to people from such cultures, when they support other forms of subjugation of women? On what authority, if you have already surrendered the idea of equality?
Note: obviously I am not suggesting that a hijab is the same thing as physical mutilation.
I am, however, saying that there would appear to be a direct line from the supposedly innocuous hijab through genital mutilation to honor killings. It is part and parcel of the same thing: the subjugation of women, and most particularly women’s sexuality. (And yes, I know that all cultures that practice one do not practice all of the others. Spare me the lectures, folks. I think you know what I mean.)
Consolation–I know what you mean but you have to start somewhere to knock down a big wall.
Pretty much every culture supports misogyny.
Here, men can go top less but women can’t among a whole range of other things.
I don’t know liberals who support forcing women to wear a hijab. I know many women including myself who support their right to do it.
Really the line is pretty simple. I support people’s right to do what they want to themselves. I don’t support a right to mutilate someone else’s body.
The line for me isn’t anywhere near thin. It’s a think, neon yellow line.
Okay, I definitely see that distinction, BUT…
Do you support the right of others to pressure/convince women that if they do not wear a hijab–or a wig, or whatever-- they are shameless?
I cannot actively support that sort of cultural practice. I see a fair number of people doing so. That doesn’t mean that I would advocate abridging their right to do so, legally. But I wouldn’t celebrate it, either.
Consolation, isn’t your question kind of a derail of this thread? This thread is specifically about genital mutilation, not about wearing a hijab or a sheitel. They may lie on the same theoretical spectrum, but that doesn’t make them the same subject. Besides, we’ve had plenty of discussions about hijabs, etc. before, and they usually end up getting locked.
I was responding to the point brought up by someone else, and I think it is valid. But everyone should obviously feel free to close down that aspect of the discussion by ignoring it going forward.
I am sorry but there is no place on this earth for this. I understand differences in cultures but this seems to just go against basic norms of nature. I really do not understand how any adult within the culture can stand up and say that this is a necessary thing. These poor girls.
Now they are saying that this doctor may have done the same thing to other girls from 2005-2007.
Romani, Henry Ford Hospital says it didn’t happen in their hospital. FYI. They are surely horrified too.
"musicprint–have any “granola heads” actually made remarks to you about “cultural relativism”?
Not in this case, maybe because it happened in the US, but this issue has been a hot bin topic for more than a few years and there have been op ed debates in places like the times. The practice of ‘female circumcision’ is especially prevalent in areas of Africa that are Muslim (and no, this practice is not in the Q’ran or tied directly to the religion, my guess is this is old misogyny that uses the Q’ran as justification). Anyway, there have been debates about what to do and there were a lot of people saying that it wasn’t the place of the UN or groups to try and step in to end the practice, that it is the culture of the people and if they want to change it they should, you name it. I was part of a pretty liberal church and you would be surprised how many ultra liberal types were saying things like this, that we shouldn’t judge what is an old custom, etc , and personally I think some of it is tied up in the whole guilt over slavery and colonialism since this practice is most common in parts of Africa that once were colonies and so forth.
Like I said, this was in things like the NY times over the years. More importantly, this issue isn’t exactly on the headlines of major papers, if that hand’t been published on here I probably wouldn’t even know about it shrug. …and that says something as well I think.