Urgent need to outlaw female genital mutilation

I READ with horror about the attitude to female genital mutilation (FGM) in this country (Irish Examiner, January 15). What is this Government thinking of? Does it even understand what this barbaric act involves?

It may already be an offence under the general Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, but that’s obviously not being upheld, and the procedure is occasionally fatal anyway. There certainly needs to be an awareness campaign, but that should not delay the provision of specific legislation outlawing it.

Any self-aware woman could say how excruciatingly painful this would be, and how catastrophic it would be for their adult lives. A number of television programmes in Britain were designed to raise awareness of FGM there, and the images of young children being butchered (and their screams) were some of the most distressing and traumatising things I’ve ever watched.