I will never get over the horror New plans to battle mutilation The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) December 12, 2014 “MULU” was just eight but she can still remember her grandmother and two old ladies holding her down — and the sound of her own screams as they cut her. “Nobody heard, nobody came. It was awful, I can still remember the pain,” said Mulu, now 47, yesterday. “Afterwards I cried for three hours. Even now, almost 40 years later, I still cannot bear to have anyone hold me. Not even my husband.” Mulu yesterday added her voice to the NSW government’s new campaign to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). “I cannot believe people can come to this country and do this. They think it will calm the girls down and protect them when they get older but it just does them harm,” said Mulu, who was born in Ethiopia and moved to Australia in 1990. Minister for Women Pru Goward said the awareness campaign will be aimed at ethnic communities through foreign language publications and will be endorsed by Western Sydney community leaders and health workers. Female genital mutilation is illegal in NSW and carries a maximum penalty of 21 years in jail. It is also an offence to remove a person from NSW with the intention of performing FGM. This week an elderly woman pleaded not guilty to the mutilation of two young sisters and her case, the first in NSW, will be heard in the Supreme Court next year. She will stand trial alongside the girls’ mother and a man on charges of mutilating the young girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Health Minister Jillian Skinner said: “FGM causes significant, long-term physical harm to women including the prospect of infertility, complications in childbirth and an increased risk of newborn deaths. “The FGM awareness campaign will provide impacted women and girls information to seek help.” Citizenship and Communities Minister Victor Dominello said the campaign will focus on breaking the code of silence about the practice within migrant communities in Australia.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:56:39 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015