{"id":7788,"date":"2017-03-04T14:19:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T22:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7788"},"modified":"2018-03-06T19:05:23","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T03:05:23","slug":"no-case-to-answer-in-uks-odd-female-genital-mutilation-imbroglio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7788","title":{"rendered":"No case to answer in UK&#8217;s odd female genital mutilation imbroglio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"author\"><em><strong>BioEdge<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Michael Cook<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/news\/health\/doctor-cleared-over-fgm-says-women-should-be-free-to-have-intimate-surgery-a3477941.html\"> An unusual criminal investigation in London<\/a> of high-profile doctors for female genital mutilation (FGM) has collapsed. FGM is usually carried out in secret amongst communities from the Middle East and Africa. However, this procedure was described in a medical journal and involved leading British physicians.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011 a surgeon, Professor Joe Daniels, and a psychiatrist, Professor David Veale, published an article in <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10508-011-9831-4\"> The Archives of Sexual Behaviour<\/a> about a clitoris removal operation on a 33-year-old Western patient. She had already had labia reduction surgery but still thought her genitals were &#8220;ugly&#8221; and &#8220;hated the look of them&#8221;. So Veale gave his approval as a psychiatrist and Daniels did the operation.<\/p>\n<p>Upon reading the article, another academic, Professor Susan Bewley, was outraged and urged the Crown Prosecution Service to investigate because it appeared to breach the UK&#8217;s law banning FGM. However, surgery of this kind is permitted for medical or psychological reasons and eventually the police declared that there was no case to answer.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Veale told the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/news\/health\/doctor-cleared-over-fgm-says-women-should-be-free-to-have-intimate-surgery-a3477941.html\"> Evening Standard<\/a> that he was utterly opposed to FGM.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;FGM and cosmetic surgery are completely different. To me it&#8217;s completely clear. FGM is an abhorrent practice conducted on girls against their consent motivated by a desire to control female sexuality, but [cosmetic genital surgery] is provided for adult women with capacity to consent and motivated by a desire to improve their appearance and sexuality. It&#8217;s no different to any other cosmetic surgery&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like the procedure. But the bottom line for me is freedom of choice. You have a freedom of choice if you have capacity for consent to do what you wish with your own body.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Professor Bewley was disappointed, fearing that it might be impossible to prosecute over FGM:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It makes a mockery of the law. It&#8217;s extraordinary. Despite the police having spent three years investigating, it&#8217;s puzzling that the CPS has decided against pressing charges. Does this mean all female cosmetic genital surgery, maybe even on minors, is exempt? The CPS decision-making looks inconsistent. Inevitably doctors are left confused and patient safety is unclear.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5805 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/consciencelaws.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/cclicense-some-rights.jpg\" alt=\"No case to answer in UK&#039;s odd female genital mutilation imbroglio\" width=\"110\" height=\"39\" \/>This article is published by Michael Cook and BioEdge under a Creative Commons licence. You may republish it or translate it free of charge with attribution for non-commercial purposes following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bioedge.org\/index.php\/bioethics\/copyright_and_syndication\">these guidelines<\/a>. If you teach at a university we ask that your department make a donation to BioEdge. Commercial media must <a>contact BioEdge<\/a> for permission and fees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BioEdge Michael Cook An unusual criminal investigation in London of high-profile doctors for female genital mutilation (FGM) has collapsed. FGM is usually carried out in secret amongst communities from the Middle East and Africa. However, this procedure was described in a medical journal and involved leading British physicians. In 2011 a surgeon, Professor Joe Daniels, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7788\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;No case to answer in UK&#8217;s odd female genital mutilation imbroglio&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,336,757],"tags":[3239],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-7788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","category-news","category-surgery","category-united-kingdom","tag-female-genital-cutting"],"yoast_head":"\r\n<title>No case to answer in UK&#039;s odd female genital mutilation imbroglio - Protection of Conscience Project News<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7788\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No case to answer in UK&#039;s odd female genital mutilation imbroglio - Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BioEdge Michael Cook An unusual criminal investigation in London of high-profile doctors for female genital mutilation (FGM) has collapsed. FGM is usually carried out in secret amongst communities from the Middle East and Africa. However, this procedure was described in a medical journal and involved leading British physicians. 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