This week we are talking about Female Genital Mutilation, piercings, and the law. This is based on the article we had written for us this week by Trojan Princess.
If you are sensitive to this topic please don't listen to it. We don't go into graphic details but we do understand it can be hard to listen to.
This question came about because there was a lot of news last year about whether it was legal for a woman in the UK to have their genitals pierced. It seems like a strange question but because of the FGM laws there isn't a simple answer.
It turns out that getting a genital piercing is done by about 2% of the UK population (1.2 million people). So it isn't uncommon.
The UK law is based on the World Health Organisations (WHO) definitions of FGM.
It is the last type that makes piercing problematic.
This isn't a normal practice in the UK, and from what I understand it isn't something that is actually carried out in the UK. It really springs from religious ideas of keeping young girls pure in places like Africa and the middle east.
Unfortuately it still goes on now and the biggest problem the UK faces is parents taking their young girls out of the country to have this done to them and then brought back.
The UK law specifically targets people who knowingly allow this to happen or plan it.
The damage this causes is incredible. Putting aside the horrific pain this causes, both immediate but also for the rest of that girls life.
The mental damage this causes is horrific and will psychologically damage that person for their entire life. Those problems could manifest in many ways and a lot of them very serious.
The law is there to protect these girls from this happening to them. Not only by making it illegal to do it, but also making it illegal to plan it. This law is essential to protecting these girls.
The problem arrises because it the law draws no distinction between a girl being forced into having FGM done too them and someone who chooses to have piercings for cosmetic effect.
In the eyes of the law any piercing of the genitals is classed and FGM. If you do have itk done and end up going to the hospital, the doctors and nurses are duty bound to report those piercings as FGM.