Father Found Guilty in Female Circumcision Case
First Criminal Case in the US Regarding FGM
According to prosecutors and the testimony of the child's mother, Khalid Adem, 30, cut off his daughter's clitoris with a pair of scissors in their apartment. She was 2 years of age at the time.
The defense has tried to state that this was a divorce dispute, since the Adems have been divorced for some time and she has sole custody, but that didn't fly with the judge, who sentenced Mr. Adem to 10 years in prison for aggravated battery and cruelty to children.
Adem, who had no criminal record, could have been facing up to 40 years in prison.
The girl testified via video during her father's trial. Now 7, she stated that her father "cut me on my private part".
Adem's defense was also that they did not practice circumcision in the part of Africa he grew up in, because he grew up in an uran area and it was more a rural practice. His wife, from a rural area, was accused of circumcising their daughter instead.
Georgia lawmakers, with the support of the girl's mother, Fortune, passed an anti-mutilation law last year, but Mr. Adem wasn't tried on it because his daughter was circumcised before it came into law.
Female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), is a hot topic for womens' rights groups around the world. It is done mostly in Africa, though it is done in some middle eastern countries. Activists state that it is intended to deny women sexual satisfaction. Women in some cultures are considered 'unclean' if they are not circumcised and some tribes view it as a rite of passage, required for a girl to enter womanhood.
Published by Liz Copeland
I'm a freelance writer, DMC mentor, and artisan-level embroiderer. I knit, crochet, sew, quilt, and spin my own yarn as well. I'm an instructor for embroidery and other fiber and textile related crafts. View profile
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1 Comments
Post a CommentI don't know quite what to say aside from "ugh" and great article.