>From: [log in to unmask] >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list              <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Court acts to prevent Gambia girls in Spain from genital              mutilation >Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 11:12:27 -0700 > >This certainly does raise some thorny legal issues...As Bass points out, people are being >punished for things they (or their relatives) MIGHT do in the future. > >Western countries have taken different approaches to this issue regarding their immigrant >populations. As of now, in The US, although it is illegal to circumcise girls under 18, there is no >mechanism in place for punishing those who do it abroad, although there is lobbying underway to >expand the law. In some European countries, especially in Scandinavia, the law extends beyond >national boundaries (inspired by earlier laws dealing with Scandinavian men having sex with >underaged individuals in places such as Thailand and then being prosecuted in their home >countries). The problem, of course, is how to enforce. I do not not mean to be crude, but do we >really expect (or would we tolerate) for customs officials to perform genital exams on girl returning >from Africa? > >I attended a conference in Norway last year where these issues were being debated. Apparently, >Norwegian officials had at one point proposed that all African immigrant girls would have to >undergo (yearly, i think) gynecological exams. When protests came in that this would be >disriminatory and racist, the suggestion came up to instead force these exams on ALL girls in >Norway....I am not quite sure how it has all played out since then. > >What i would conclude, however, is that there needs to be a greater appreciation for the difficult >position that many Africans, including Gambians, find themselves in as they try to negotiate >wildly divergent demands from various authorities, be they "western" or "traditional."  Talk about >being between a rock and a hard place..... > >Thank you, Ylva > > > >On Sat, 15 May 2004, abdoukarim sanneh wrote: > > > Court acts to save girls from mutilation > > > > Gambia condemns Spanish ruling preventing girls' circumcision > > > > Ben Sills in Granada > > Saturday May 15, 2004 > > The Guardian > > > > The Spanish judiciary was yesterday embroiled in a simmering row with Gambia over the best >way to protect girls from circumcision after a court confiscated the passports of three Gambian >girls to stop them being repatriated for surgery. > > Ruling that the three were in real danger of genital mutilation, Judge Eva Platero called for their >passports to be withheld until they are 18 and ordered twice-yearly gynaecological examinations >for them. > > Gambia's envoy to Spain, Juan Antonio del Moral, called the decision "repressive" and an >anomaly in a democracy. > > "While I welcome efforts to eradicate this practice, it's important to recognise that the >restrictions on travel and the examination regime that have been imposed on these girls are both >intrusive and repressive," he said. "It's important to strike a balance between harm prevention and >restriction of liberties. In this case I believe the judge has not managed to do that." > > The honorary consul added that the ruling in effect punished the parents for something that had >not taken place. "In a democratic country that is not supposed to happen." > > Female circumcision is believed to be common among west African communities living in >Catalonia. It normally happens when girls return to west Africa to visit their families, although >there have been occasional reports of operations carried out in Spain. The practice is still >considered normal by many older people in west Africa, particularly those from rural >communities. > > Radio Girona said that the three girls, from San Feliu de Guixols on the Costa Brava, had two >older sisters who had been circumcised on a previous visit to their grandparents in Gambia. The >girls' father, who has Spanish residency, said that there was nothing he could do to protect his >daughters because it was traditional practice. > > The 7,500-strong Gambian community has become well established across Catalonia since >the 1970s and is generally well integrated. But the high incidence of genital mutilation has long >been a cause for concern. A spokesman for Unicef in Gambia said the government was unwilling >to legislate against the practice because it was entrenched in traditional society. > > Anna Farjas, an expert in ethnic groups who has conducted studies of the community, said: >"It's very important that we eradicate this practice of mutilation. I welcome the judge's ruling, not >just because of her decision, but because she did it in the right way, preparing the ground >through meetings with the people involved to make sure they understood." > > Spain has set up an umbrella group of prosecutors, doctors, social services workers and >judges to preempt mutilation. Parents are warned about the possible consequences, medical and >legal. But Mr Del Moral said the approach involved too much repression and not enough >education. > > "Many of the Gambian people living in Catalonia come from rural communities and so the level >of literacy is low. We need to help them to understand that this practice offends the dignity and >violates the rights of their daughters." > > Advertiser links Charity - British Red Cross > > As part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the... > > reports.redcross.org.uk Whizz-Kidz Charity Organization > > At Whizz-Kidz we help disabled children live a life with no... > > whizz-kidz.org.uk Charity Organisations - Cancer Research > > One of the UK's leading charity organisations. Conducting... > > cancerresearchuk.org > > > > > > Three years ago, the town of Banyoles, which has one of the largest Gambian populations in >the province, warned the west African population of the potential punishments for female >circumcision after it was suspected that a Gambian grandmother was performing the operation in >the town. > > Although the practice is illegal in Spain, it is difficult for the courts to act because it takes >place outside the country and parents claim to have no prior knowledge. > > In 2002, the same court in San Feliu de Guixols shelved a case against the parents of four >sisters who had been circumcised. The parents claimed that the operations had not been >planned before their trip to Africa and the judge ruled that the court therefore had no jurisdiction >over what had happened. > > > > > > Special report > > Spain > > > > News guide > > Spain > > > > Useful links > > Spanish interior ministry > > Basque autonomous government > > Basque nationalism interactive guide > > Catalan government > > El Mundo newspaper > > El Pais newspaper > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Printable version | Send it to a friend | Save story > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >         renderOvertureBox('07001', 0, 'trail', '3'); > > > > ';              document.write(intrusad);               document.close();               } else  { >var regularad   = '';           regularad               += '';          regularad               += ' '; >document.write(regularad);              document.close();       }       }       build_ad();// --> > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Do you Yahoo!? > > SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l > > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: > > [log in to unmask] > > > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface > > at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~