F.G.M.- NOT ENOUGH MONEY TARGETED FOR UK

No-FGM (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At a fringe meeting during the Labour Party Conferencs last night politicians were told that not enough money was being put into the eradication of  FGM (female genital mutilation) in the UK. Fears were raised  as to how much data was being collected and with services being cut that this would put vulnerable children at risk. The meeting which was attended by teachers,doctors, councillors and survivors said that out of £35million put aside only £1million had been allocated to eradicate FGM in Britain which is said to affect up to 170,000 people.                                                                                                                             Ellie Robinson from Newham council in east London, which was recently given £80,000 from the mayor of London to provide an FGM service, said she feared the problem was vastly under reported.

She said "30% of our residents were actually born elsewhere and if you think about what that must mean for FGM you would expect very high numbers, but in actual fact in 2013 we only had five cases that came to our children and social care department and we had just six reported to the police. So at the moment we just don't have the data. We don't know what the problem is and we can't analyse trends,we cant get into the communities because we don't know what we are dealing with, At the moment we are having to make huge cuts, so every intervention that you do, you have to prove there is a need for it and you've got to prove that your intervention would work and i cant prove that the intervention will work because it's not been done in many places" 

In response to the question asked by survivors of FGM to put FGM on the sex education curriculum for both boys and girls Seema Malhotra MP and shadow minister for prevention of violence to women and girls said " we are talking about age appropriate sex education right from key stage 1" but she would not comment on whether she would commit more money in the future to prevent FGM in the UK.   Lucinda Berger the shadow minister for public health said " I'm particularly interested in how we can train and support everyone working in the health services- doctors, nurses, health visitors, midwives, social workers- and how right at the start of education this is something we need to be talking about "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     According to provisional estimates approximately 130,000 women and girls are living with the consequences of FGM in England and Wales. In addition 60,000 English and Welsh girls were born to mothers who have undergone FGM. Though FGM has been illegal in the UK since 1985, it wasn't until 2014 that the crime was first prosecuted.      

                                         

 

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Can an Independent Scotland stand on its own two feet?: John Jappy: Hiding the truth

Can an Independent Scotland stand on its own two feet?: John Jappy: Hiding the truth

CHINESE CITY SEALED AFTER OUTBREAK OF THE BLACK DEATH.

English: This plague patient is displaying a swollen, ruptured inguinal lymph node, or buboe. After the incubation period of 2-6 days, symptoms of the plague appear including severe malaise, headache, shaking chills, fever, and pain and swelling, or adenopathy, in the affected regional lymph nodes, also known as buboes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 30,000 population of Yumen, North-western province of Gansu are not being allowed to leave the city following the death of a man from bubonic plague. Police have set up roadblocks on the perimeter of the city and are telling motorists to find alternative routes china central television (CCTV) said.   More than 150 residents have been quarantined following the death of the 38 year old man who is thought to have been in contact with a dead marmot, a species related to a squirrel.  The city has been sealed since last week with four quarantine sections set up.                                                                               " Yumen has enough rice, flour and oil to supply all its residents for up to one month," CCTV added. "Local residents and those in quarantine are all in stable condition."

Due to its bite-based form of infection, the bubonic plague is often the first step of a progressive series of illnesses. Bubonic plague symptoms appear suddenly, usually 2–5 days after exposure to the bacteria. Symptoms include:

• Gangrene of the extremities such as toes, fingers, lips and tip of the nose.

• Chills

• General ill feeling (malaise)

• High fever (39 °C; 102 °F)

• Muscle cramps

• Seizures

• Smooth, painful lymph gland swelling called a bubo, commonly found in the groin, but may occur in the armpits or neck, most often at the site of the initial infection (bite or scratch)

• Pain may occur in the area before the swelling appears

• Skin color changes to a pink hue in some very extreme cases

Other symptoms include heavy breathing, continuous vomiting of blood (hematemesis), aching limbs, coughing, and extreme pain. The pain is usually caused by the decay or decomposition of the skin while the person is still alive. (wikipedia)                                                                                                                                                                             The US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) says modern antibiotics are effective in treating plague, but that without prompt treatment the disease can cause serious illness or death. Primarily an animal illness it is thankfully extremely rare in humans.                        

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FGM. CLASS IN SWEDEN WHERE EVERY GIRL UNDERWENT PROCEDURE EXPOSED.

The harrowing tales of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (Photo credit: DFID - UK Department for International Development)

School health services in Norkopping, eastern Sweden found that 60 girls returning to school after holidays to their parents country of origin had been subject to FGM (female genital mutilation). The 28 girls from the same class had been subjected to infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM where the clitoris and labia are completely cut away and the genitals are sewn together leaving just a small opening of the vagina.                                FGM has been punishable by a prison sentence in Sweden since 1982 but was updated to include FGM performed outside the country in 1999.  Considered by communities to be allowed for religious,social and cultural reasons as well as necessary for developement of females into adulthood and marraige FGM comes along with mental illness,  chronic vaginal and pelvic infections, abnormal periods, persistent urine infections, possible kidney failure and infertility according to UK NHS.    "We're working to inform parents that they could face prison if they come back and their children have undergone female genital mutilation,” said Petra Blom Andersson, student health coordinator in Norrköping.                                                                                    FGM is also a problem in the UK, where, it is estimated that over 20,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk, and that 60,000 women have been operated on.   As in Sweden girls in the UK are most at risk in the summer months when taken abroad and mutilated at the hands of the girls relatives making prosecution of the parents difficult to prove. The law can only prosecute the main perpetrators of FGM.                        UK Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Keir Starmer, unveiled plans to increase convictions under existing legislation,  the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, which creates an offence of causing or allowing a child or vulnerable adult to die or suffer serious physical harm.                                                                                                           The World Health Organisation predicts that 125 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to FGM in the 29 Africa and Middle Eastern countries where it is most frequently performed                                                                                                                                           Related articles

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PREGNANT WOMAN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE IN SUDAN FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN.

A women has been sentenced to death in the sudan for not denouncing her christian faith. Meriam Ibrahim was born to a muslim father but was brought up to be a christian by her mother. At present she is kept shackled to a wall although she is 8 months pregnant and with her is her 20 month old son Martin                                                                                                             The court sentenced her for refusing to recant her Christianity and marrying Christian Daniel Wani - a Sudanese man with US citizenship who lives in New Hampshire. They found her guilty of apostasy - leaving Islam - even though miss Ibrahim testified that she was never a muslim, and was brought up as a christian by her Ethiopian born mother.                The case was brought to the authorities attention in august by Miss Ibrahims fathers family who said that she had been born a muslim and renounced Islam. Fatih Al_Deen, Sudanese parliament speaker, said Miss Ibrahims brother had denounced her.                                                                                                                              "I was never a muslim" she told the court " i was raised a christian from the start"                                                                                                                                 Her husband who was in the US at the time of the verdict said " I am so frustrated. I don't know what to do. I'm just praying".  He was only allowed to see her on monday and found her shackled to a wall and her legs were swollen.                                         Miss Ibrahim;s sentence of death by hanging will not be carried out until after the birth of her child. Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, said " I am truly appalled that a sudanese court has sentenced Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag to death for apostasy. This barbaric sentence highlights the stark divide between practices of the Sudanese courts and the country's international human rights obligations"

Edit: 23/6/2014   Meriam Ibrahim has been freed, her lawyer tells the BBC.  http://bbc.in/1szat6m                                                                                                   new edit:Meriam Ibrahim re-arrested lawyer tells CNN news   http://cnn.it/1iuDMms

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STRIP SEARCH NAKED MAN TASERED WHILE IN POLICE CUSTODY.

A 23 year old man was tasered while in his cell after he flicked a police officer with his wet underpants. P.C Lee Birch fired at 23 year old Daniel Dove hitting him in the chest. A Bristol crown court jury on Tuesday cleared the officer who fired the Taser, PC Lee Birch, of assault causing actual bodily harm and misconduct in a public office.

CCTV coverage , which was shown in open court, shows  PC Birch ( pictured) hiding the taser behind his back and then shooting Dove who then writhed on the floor in agony. At the end of the trial media organisations asked the trial judge for the CCTV coverage to be released as it would be in the public interest for it to be published. The judge agreed, the defense ,prosecution and Dove himself had no objections to the footage being released. After taking instructions from Patrick Geenty, chief constable of Wiltshire, police representatives said they would be asking the crown prosecution service for the footage not to be released.             

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating five officers in connection with the incident and is also looking at why the Wiltshire force did not inform it about what happened. IPCC associate commissioner Guido Liguori said "We will examine how the professional standards department at Wiltshire Police handled matters following the incident. The IPCC has particular concerns around the use of Taser in confined spaces including police cells, and has asked all forces to notify us where a complaint involving Taser is made. The investigation will consider why the use of Taser wasn't brought to our attention earlier." The IPCC has carried out a review of Taser use in England and Wales which is expected to be published shortly.                                      The Crown Prosecution Service discontinued a prosecution against Dove for assault and being drunk and disorderly on the basis that PC Birch's credibility was under question.                                                                                                                                                             Edit: Friday 2nd May 2014.           Video of Dove being tasered,  http://bit.ly/1pWWMwN        

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