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Federal law doesn’t require healthcare providers to report FGM despite half a million at risk

Apr 28, 2017 12:21 pm By Christine Douglass-Williams

Current federal law criminalizes the practice of FGM, but does not specifically require reporting on it, though health care providers are obligated to report instances of child abuse, a category in which FGM falls

Female genital mutilation is gratuitous violence against girls and women, and is a violation of human rights; failing to report it not only ensures its continuance but also perpetuates a two-tier legal system in America: one in which Islamic Sharia is permitted and another under the rule of secular law.

When one takes into consideration the shocking cover-up of the sexual assault by Muslim “grooming gangs” of up to a million girls in the U.K., as police and public welfare officials turned a blind eye for fear of being branded “Islamophobic” or racist, it is clear that some areas are already under a two-tier legal system of Sharia and democracy. The West continues to lose its values in the interests of appeasing Muslims and will continue to do so unless this double standard is seriously challenged. Let’s hope that American law will change in order to force reporting of this dreadful abuse of women in light of this first FGM case in America, in which two Michigan doctors, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, and Attar’s wife Farida (a medical office manager) were indicted this week by a Detroit grand jury. The prosecutor has rightly stated that “this brutal practice is conducted on girls for one reason, to control them as women. FGM will not be tolerated in the United States.”

“Federal Law Doesn’t Require Healthcare Providers to Report FGM Despite Half a Million ‘At Risk’”, by Michael Patrick Leahy, Breitbart, April 27, 2017:

The barbaric practise of female genital mutilation — a procedure made unlawful by the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 — has been thrust to the fore of public debate in the United States following the arrests of Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, and Attar’s wife Farida in Michigan this month.
According to reports, several young Somali girls were brought from Minnesota, one of twenty-four states that have passed legislation to make female genital mutilation (FGM) illegal according to state laws, to Michigan, one of twenty-six states in which FGM has not been made illegal in state law, where Dr. Nagarwala, with assistance from Mrs. Attar, performed the procedure outlawed by federal law in a medical office owned by Dr. Attar.

“Since 1996, there have been specific federal criminal penalties for performing FGM/C in the United States on anyone under 18 years old, including fines, up to 5 years in prison, or both. In 2013, Congress amended the federal statute related to FGM/C to criminalize the knowing transportation of a girl under 18 years old from the United States for the purpose of performing FGM/C abroad—often referred to as ‘vacation cutting,’ ” according to the June 2016 Government Accountability Office’s report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.

The current federal statute, which codifies both the 1996 law and the 2013 law can be seen here at U.S. Code Title 18 Part I Chapter 7 § 116 – Female genital mutilation.

Surprisingly, neither the 1996 federal law that outlawed FGM, nor the 2013 federal law that outlawed “vacation cutting” requires health care providers to report known or suspected instances of FGM to local, state, or federal health authorities or law enforcement. Current federal law criminalizes the practice of FGM, but does not specifically require reporting on it, though health care providers are obligated to report instances of child abuse, a category in which FGM falls.

With this paucity of reporting data, two recent studies, one by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), another by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), have used demographic analysis to estimate that the number of women who have “undergone” FGM or are “at risk of the procedure” in the United States exceeds 500,000.

“Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), involving partial or total removal of the external genitals of girls and women for religious, cultural, or other nonmedical reasons, has devastating immediate and long-term health and social effects, especially related to childbirth,” the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), a non-profit research organized funded in part by the Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation, reported in February 2016.

“In 2013, there were up to 507,000 U.S. women and girls who had undergone FGM/C or were at risk of the procedure, according to PRB’s data analysis. This figure is more than twice the number of women and girls estimated to be at risk in 2000 (228,000). The rapid increase in women and girls at risk reflects an increase in immigration to the United States, rather than an increase in the share of women and girls at risk of being cut. The estimated U.S. population at risk of FGM/C is calculated by applying country- and age-specific FGM/C prevalence rates to the number of U.S. women and girls with ties to those countries,” PRB reported.

PRB’s “at risk” estimates were based on demographic analysis, rather than actual reported incidents of FGM in the United States.

They made the common sense assumption that young girls raised in immigrant households where the country of origin is one where the FGM incidence has been documented to be high are “at risk” since those cultural practices are not left in the home country by the family but are likely to continue in the United States.

“Just three sending countries—Egypt, Ethiopia, and Somalia—accounted for 55 percent of all U.S. women and girls at risk in 2013 (see Table 1). These three countries stand out because they have a combination of high FGM/C prevalence rates and a relatively large number of immigrants to the United States. The FGM/C prevalence rate for women and girls ages 15 to 49 is 91 percent in Egypt, 74 percent in Ethiopia, and 98 percent in Somalia. About 97 percent of U.S. women and girls at risk were from African countries, while just 3 percent were from Asia (Iraq and Yemen),” PRB explained.

“FGM/C has gained attention in the United States in part because of the rising number of immigrants from countries where FGM/C is prevalent, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2000 and 2013, the foreign-born population from Africa more than doubled, from 881,000 to 1.8 million,” the PRB report added:

This type of violence against women violates women’s human rights. There are more than 3 million girls, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, who are at risk of cutting/mutilation each year. In Djibouti, Guinea, and Somalia, nine in 10 girls ages 15 to 19 have been subjected to FGM/C. Some countries in Africa have recently outlawed the practice, including Guinea-Bissau, but progress in eliminating the harmful traditional practice has been slow.1 Although FGM/C is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, global migration patterns have increased the risk of FGM/C among women and girls living in developed countries, including the United States.

“CDC published a report in 2016 estimating that 513,000 women and girls in the United States were at risk of or may have been subjected to FGM/C in 2012,” according to the June 2016 Government Accountability Office’s report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting. The CDC report found the virtually the same results PRB found using 2013 data:

While subject to certain limitations, this represents a substantial increase—about threefold—from CDC’s prior estimate of 168,000, which was based on 1990 data.CDC attributed this increase to a sharp rise in recent decades in the U.S. population originating from countries where FGM/C is commonly practiced, and noted that the increase occurred despite FGM/C prevalence not increasing or seemingly falling in many of these countries.

“In the report for the 2012 estimate, the authors said that until scientifically valid data are collected, the approach used provides the best available information on the potential levels of FGM/C,” GAO wrote:

CDC and others have acknowledged that collecting more scientifically valid data would be difficult due, in part, to the cultural and legal sensitivity of the information needed. International efforts to collect data on the actual occurrence of FGM/C have faced similar challenges. Starting in October
2015, however, the United Kingdom began requiring health care providers in England to report through a nationwide database any instance of FGM/C described to them or discovered during physical exams. (emphasis added)

Recent press reports indicate that the methodologies used in both the CDC report and the PRB report are supported by at least one instance where health care providers actually tracked the incidence of FGM among recent immigrants to the United States from a country in which it is a very common cultural practice.

“In Phoenix, Arizona, a staggering 98 percent of Somali women being treated at the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic have been circumcised, founder Dr. Crista Johnson said. She estimates the Somali community is at least 12,000-strong,” NBC News reported in 2014.

But the work by the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic in Phoenix accurately reporting on the incidence of FGM among recent immigrants to the United States is the exception in a public health system that is not required to specifically report suspected or actual incidents of FGM by law in most jurisdictions and is reluctant to do so for a variety of ideological and institutional reasons.

“Despite the fact that FGM in all forms has been explicitly illegal in the United States since 1996, legislation criminalizing the practice has not been comprehensively implemented or enforced, and community members, social service providers and law enforcement officials often fail to identify, report or investigate incidents of FGM,” Sanctuary for Families reported in 2013:

Anecdotal evidence indicates that female genital mutilation also continues to be performed within the United States. Typically, FGM in the U.S. is carried out by traditional practitioners who operate covertly and illegally. When U.S. health care providers carry out the procedure, they frequently come from countries where the practice is prevalent, and they operate on girls from their own communities at the request of a child’s parents.

“Some states have enacted laws specifically criminalizing FGM/C, while other states may pursue FGM/C offenses under other related statutes, such as child abuse laws,” according to the June 2016 Government Accountability Office’s report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting:

In some instances, states require that an occurrence of FGM/C be reported.

DOJ indicates that two states, Illinois and Tennessee, have mandatory reporting for FGM/C.

All states have mandatory reporting laws governing child abuse, which may apply to reporting FGM/C depending on the relevant circumstances and particular statutory requirements.

Some state laws address other areas of FGM/C, such as provisions prohibiting “vacation cutting” or provisions for community education and outreach.

“Local law enforcement and child protection officials told us that immigrant communities may underreport due to cultural norms, victims’ reluctance to betray their community or family members, and concern about potential effects on their immigration status and that of their family members. In addition, although many professionals who may be in contact with girls at risk for FGM/C are mandatory reporters (e.g., health care, school, and child care officials), they may be uncertain about whether FGM/C should be reported,” according to the Government Accountability Office’s June 2016 report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting:

For example, health care providers we spoke with stated that they may not report instances of girls being at risk of or subjected to FGM/C due to uncertainty about mandatory reporting requirements (e.g., if FGM/C occurred before arriving in the United States), or because they prefer to counsel parents on the consequences of FGM/C to change parents’ position on the issue.

School officials we spoke with had little or no experience encountering FGM/C among their students, in general, and school officials may not be certain of what actions are appropriate when they encounter suspicions of FGM/C, which can affect reporting. For example, an official from a nongovernmental organization that works with Somali women said teachers contacted them for guidance on dealing with suspicions of vacation cutting.

In addition, a former school psychologist who now works with a national organization told us about an instance when school officials had suspicions of vacation cutting that was not
reported.

However, they did not confirm these suspicions with the student or her family, out of concern that she would be pulled out of school and her home environment would be disrupted. Without clear evidence that FGM/C had occurred, the officials decided to provide the student with general support for trauma.

States’ mandatory reporting requirements vary across jurisdictions, are dependent on the relevant facts and circumstances, and would be subject to some level of interpretation by
the reporting official. These factors can make it challenging to determine the appropriate course of action when encountering potential instances or risks of FGM/C on minors

The public health establishment–at the federal, state, and county levels–has been reluctant to look for and report on female genital mutilation (FGM) data, just as it has been reluctant to report on the incidence of latent and active tuberculosis (TB) among resettled refugees.

An example of this reluctance when it comes to reporting on active TB among refugees is the hidden blockbuster discovered by Breitbart News in January that 1,565 refugees have been “diagnosed with active TB since 2012, three times more than previously reported.”

Many state government health departments that report active TB among refugees make the data very difficult to find.

Other state government health departments simply fail to fully report active TB among refugees, and many county governments, particularly those in urban areas controlled by Democrats, refuse to comply with the public health reporting requirements of the Refugee Act of 1980, particularly with regards to latent TB.

Public data on the incidence of FGM–which occurs almost exclusively among the immigrant population arriving from Africa, the Middle East, and the Near East–is far more difficult to obtain than public data on the incidence of active TB.

Every state has had very clear reporting standards about the incidence of active TB among the entire population for well over half a century–in many states for more than a century.

Such is not the case with FGM, because the barbaric practice was virtually unknown in the United States until the significant upswing over the past several decades in the arrival of immigrants from countries where it is has been a common practice for centuries.

“I think it’s more than mere reluctance,” an attorney familiar with the refugee resettlement program tells Breitbart News about the reluctance of public health officials to obtain and report data on FGM.

“I think it’s a deliberate, ideological approach of moral equivalency, meaning that just about anything multiculturalism dishes out, should be respected and accepted – and the PC bureaucracy backs them up,” the attorney says.

“Public health and medical care in general, is not supposed to be a judgment, and because FGM has been made illegal in the U.S. with individual states even passing their own laws, it’s made it easier for public health departments to opt out of addressing it, leaving it instead to law enforcement agencies,” the attorney adds.

“If there is any doubt, just look at the annual refugee health reports like the one for Texas that has extensive data about health issues related to arriving refugees; they report on STDS but there is nothing about FGM, a condition that for many women who have been mutilated, brings life-long medical issues,” the attorney concludes.

The 2014 Refugee Health Report issued by the state of Texas, for instance reports, extensively on the rates of syphilis for refugees over the age of 15, but includes no data on FGM.

Refugee health reports for the states of California, Utah, Arizona, Minnesota, Indiana, and Florida follow a similar pattern.

The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines to medical professionals responsible for conducting the initial domestic medical screenings of refugees arriving in the United States for resettlement by the federal government specifically recommend genital examinations, which would clearly identify arriving refugees who are FGM victims. However, a significant number of those screeners may not be following those recommendations, or may delay the examinations indefinitely based on language in the guidelines that states “[i]n refugees who previously experienced trauma (e.g., sexual assault victims), the anal and genital examination may be postponed until the refugee establishes a trusting relationship with a provider.”

That apparent failure misses key information that could help stop the spread of the barbaric practice in the United States, as adult women arriving in the country who are already victims of FGM are likely to be in family situations where their daughters are at risk of being subjected to the same abuse in this country.

Common sense suggests that the PRB’s and CDC’s estimates of the number of girls in the United States at risk for FGM is likely to be very close to the true incidence of FGM in this country today.

The public health establishment’s long record of hiding and obscuring data…

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Filed Under: "Islamophobia", Featured, United States, women's rights in Islam Tagged With: Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, Farida Attar, FGM, michigan


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Comments

  1. Krazy Kafir says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    This is one of the first things Trump administration should be looking after.

    • Oliver says

      Apr 28, 2017 at 12:47 pm

      I think that there are MANY MORE important things for Pres Trump, his administration and Congress to focus on, then this.

      A few: infrastructure; terrorism (in the US); employment and the economy; taxes; immigration; and if i took the time, i think I could come up with about another dozen or so more important issues, than worring about MUSLIM FEMALES.

      • john spielman says

        Apr 28, 2017 at 2:22 pm

        wrong! FELONIES ARE ALWAYS IMPORTANT felony assault is felony assault – these two perps should have their medical licenses and any citizenship REVOKED and mandatory reporting to the FEDS will help remove these people from our country!

        • Manual Paleologos says

          Apr 29, 2017 at 10:13 am

          Where, in the Constitution, is the Federal Government authorized to regulate the medical profession? Where, in the Constitution, is the Federal Government given any but the most tangential authority over general criminal matters?

          This is a state issue, not Federal.

        • Frank Anderson says

          Apr 29, 2017 at 9:05 pm

          Manual, it would be a good idea to read the cases involving bar admissions from the 1950’s and 60’s. You are quite in error in your statements. I believe if you start with Goldfarb v. State Bar of Virginia, 421 U.S. 657 (1975) and Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen v. State Bar of Virginia, 377 U.S. 1 (1963) you will find a large number of other Supreme Court cases cited within those cases, and more cited as you work through all the cases, defining the limits of state authority. I was at the center of a federal-state contest where the state wanted to destroy me for obeying federal law. I won. My comments reflect research and litigation that lasted from 1982 to now, and there has never been a successful contest of the authorities I have cited. Please do some research.

        • john spielman says

          Apr 29, 2017 at 12:43 pm

          TO Manual; yes but deportation is a federal jurisdiction

        • Manual Paleologos says

          Apr 30, 2017 at 11:12 am

          Frank, I’m not sure what your point is. That the states do not have the authority to prohibit FGM? If they can’t do som who can? Where in The Constitution does the Fed have the authority.

      • gravenimage says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 12:45 am

        Oliver, your belief that Muslims freely practicing brutal Shari’ah law here to be of no concern is mistaken. They will not stop with brutalizing other Muslims.

        • john spielman says

          Apr 29, 2017 at 12:44 pm

          oliver is a muslim apologist

      • Jeanette says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 2:57 pm

        Actually,, the Muslims are beginning to call for forced FGM for every female on the planet, non-Muslim females included.

        If slicing up some other body part for Allah is terrorism, why would slicing up THAT body part for Allah NOT be terorism?

        So if the feds are supposed to tend to the dangers of terrorism, the possibility of this kind of terror attack should be considered along with all the others.

    • angel grimes says

      Apr 29, 2017 at 3:38 pm

      Feminists are guilty of ignoring this horror b/c well we don’t want to make “cultural” enemies. Michigan, where this happens daily is chickenshiite as well. Too many muslims in Michigan. My God, these butcher docs were on staff at some of Michigan’s most well known hospitals.

      Little and backward Gambia has banned FGM and set
      penalties of up to life in prison for offenders of the new law. The
      country’s parliament passed a bill criminalizing FGM, which usually
      involves the removal of a young girl’s labia and clitoris, on Dec. 28th,
      a month after president Yahya Jammeh promised to end the practice,
      which causes lifelong health complications.The bill makes Gambia, a
      small West African country of about
      1.8 million people, the 27th sub-Saharan African country to legislate
      against FGM. As much as 80% of Gambian women had been cut as of 2010.
      MI Rep. Hammoud will say this is islamaphobic or some non-sense. I’m
      waiting for his stance. Brutality has no place in the USA.

  2. somehistory says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 12:30 pm

    If the teds won’t make it so, then each State should make the doctors responsible to report the federal crime or be liable.

  3. concerned canadian says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 12:32 pm

    The people affected by it should sue the Doctors

    I bet that would make these idiots think twice.

    And OUT every hollywood idiot who supports FGM.

    • Oliver says

      Apr 28, 2017 at 12:44 pm

      If the people affected by it are CHILDREN/MINORS- AND THEIR PARENTS TAKE THEM TO THE DOCTOR- FOR THE PROCEDURE- WHY SUE THE DOCTOR?

      • john spielman says

        Apr 28, 2017 at 7:33 pm

        because it is a felony assault by the doctor !

      • john spielman says

        Apr 28, 2017 at 7:35 pm

        annd because the child receives NO benefit from FGM!

      • gravenimage says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 12:48 am

        Oliver, it is *not* legal here for doctors to mutilate patients. Surely you don’t think it should be?

  4. miriamrove says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    This should be classified like laws pertaining child molestation. I am wondering how can we go about this to make it into law. m

    • john spielman says

      Apr 28, 2017 at 4:55 pm

      it already a felony assault to perform FMG! and the “doctors” face permanent revocation of their licenses. I reported a Minnesota pediatrician a few years ago when the article about it came up on JIHAD WATCH, and he was fired from his position and I believe his license to practise was revoked!

      • gravenimage says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 1:53 am

        John, it was actually a Jihad Watch poster, one CGW, who spearheaded the campaign to get him fired from the Mayo Clinic:

        “Mayo Clinic fires doctor who said female genital mutilation is an ‘honor’ for women”

        https://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/05/mayo-clinic-fires-doctor-who-said-female-genital-mutilation-is-an-honor-for-women

        “Longtime Jihad Watch reader CGW saw that report on Jihad Watch and sprang into action, contacting the Mayo Clinic, where Elhagaly was employed, and starting a petition…”

      • angel grimes says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 3:42 pm

        The UK has mandatory reporters of FGM (healthcare workers, teachers, social workers). We should have the same. And thank you for reporting the butcher SOB. I live in SE Michigan where the practice is rampant. We also have a huge problem with muslim doctors defrauding medicare/Medicaid (see Yasser Awaad-fake epilepsy diagnosis, and Fata-fake cancer diagnosis). Notice a trend here?

  5. Robert says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    it is the parents who must be Strictly Punished , Why they did not reported, Other wise they do it to their childrens when they will be in India .This Brutality must be stopped

    • Jeanette says

      Apr 29, 2017 at 2:50 pm

      They should not only be punished, but just as parents who inflict other serious physical abuse on their children, the FGM victims should be removed from the home, and hopefully eventually adopted into a non-Muslim, non-FGM family.

      • Frank Anderson says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 9:30 pm

        Jeanette: And leave that couple of abusers free to have other children to abuse? Where would it stop: Menopause? How many children by then? As far a deportation: How does that do good by sending them to another environment where they are free to continue their barbaric and shameful practices? Either lock them up as long as they can make babies, or finish them off. Set a chilling example to other potential abusers that there will be changes to the “unchangeable”. Castration and removal of reproductive organs would almost certainly not pass Constitutional muster (but it has in some cases). But that plus removal of the children from that evil household could be another possibility. There is more than 1 way to . . . .!

  6. Jim Austin says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Feminism is leftist bait and switch.

    The bait is women’s rights, equality, safety, all righteous goals, compelling enough to command the support of all honest and intelligent persons, with opposition largely confined to the ignorant, the bigoted, the malevolent, the incredibly stupid.

    Then the left switches 180 degrees to support the exact opposite. They ally themselves with a religious faction that legitimizes and validates abuse and oppression of women, where the areas they dominate are characterized by female genital mutilations, honor killings, child marriages and murder of assertive women. The left ends up defending and supporting, as in, aiding and abetting, the worst misogynist faction ever to infest this planet.

    • Jeanette says

      Apr 29, 2017 at 2:48 pm

      I believe it was Ann Coulter who said that if only one word could be used to describe a liberal, it should be “hypocrite.”

  7. mortimer says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    An FGM procedure performed by any doctor in the US or not reported should lead to loss of a medical license.

    • john spielman says

      Apr 28, 2017 at 4:58 pm

      i do believe it does lead to revocation of license. Because there is NO medical value to the recipient, legally, it is BY DEFINITION, a felonious assault against a child!

  8. Troybeam says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 4:04 pm

    By this article FGM is not required to be reported as child abuse, what misguided person(s) thought of that. If anything the medical profession needs a crash course on this “Islamic Religious Item”.

    Before you get your undies in a wad over this one should actually learn to understand sharia, so here’s a crash course…..sharia is not a religious right, sharia is the legal lawful and abiding system that rules the life of all Muslims and only Muslims. The Muslims want you to believe its a religious item but in no way does it have to do with religion.

    FGM is required upon the females of Islam, in sharia the law listed on chapter e4.3 page 59 of Reliance of the Traveller: Islamic Sacred Law. Below is the english version, below that is the Arabic version

    Nuh Hah Mim Keller’s English Translation

    e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. Bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)”

    Arabic Original:
    Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female)
    by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male,
    but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris
    (this is called HufaaD). {bold emphasis ours}

    http://www.answering-islam.org/index.html

    Ignorance is not bliss it is dangerous to our nation.

  9. Frank Anderson says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    Start with the most demanding form of privilege, the duty to withhold information regarding completed wrongdoing, the attorney-client privilege. Because attorneys are at the top of the professional ladder as far as duties of confidentiality, anything a lawyer is required to do all others are required to do, accountants, doctors, psychologists, ministers, whatever. Privilege dies in the presence of current crime or fraud. In re Grand Jury, 640 F.2d 49 (7th Cir. 1980). While this is a federal decision it is binding on all states in the 7th Circuit and highly persuasive in all others under Article 6 Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, “{Federal law] shall be the supreme law of the land and the judges of every state shall be bound thereby; anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.”

    When state law already requires reporting of child abuse, and federal law defines FGM as child abuse, a professional is required to report the crime or to be subject to prosecution for aiding and abetting, 18 U.S.C. Section 2, and concealing (Misprision) of a felony, 18 U.S.C. Section 4. Where are the prosecutors and investigators?

    • Manual Paleologos says

      Apr 29, 2017 at 10:09 am

      I agree with everything you say except with regard to Federal authority over child abuse. The Constitution gives the Federal Government little authority over general crimes. Those come under state purview.

      • Jeanette says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 2:44 pm

        Odd that the feds have no problem doing so much that they are not empowered to do under the Constitution, but they don’t want to do what they ARE required to do – protect us (and the helpless), which would include protecting us from Muslims.

      • Frank Anderson says

        Apr 29, 2017 at 8:32 pm

        Manual, how many state convictions have been overturned because of United States Constitutional claims? If you start with the Supremacy Clause, Article 6 Clause 2 “[Federal law] shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges of every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.” The duty is clearly placed on all state judges from their supreme court all the way down to justices of the peace to obey federal law, even states which have “legalized” drugs and defied federal agents by giving “sanctuary” in spite of federal law and orders to the contrary. States have no choice in which federal laws they will obey and which they will defy, unless you have a corrupt and spineless administration in charge that refused to enforce the laws which it has sworn to uphold..

        Then you might appreciate revisiting the 2 great cases stating the impact of federal law in state courts: New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (Ala. 1964) (a purely civil case based on libel) and NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware, 458 U.S. 886 (Miss. 1983) (a criminal case based on a “conspiracy” to boycott) (A state court cannot enforce any rule of law, regardless of its origin, [constitution, statute or common (judge-made)] that violates federal law. These cases have won cases for me in both federal and state courts. Have you had any success to the contrary?

        Please consult a currently licensed and practicing attorney in your jurisdiction. I am retired..

        • Manual Paleologos says

          Apr 30, 2017 at 11:21 am

          Is there Federal Law that permits FGM? I don’t know of anywhere where it violates the Constitution, although arguments could be made in 1st Amendment grounds. That would have to be fought from the state to the SCOTUS level to decide, and SCOTUS would have to decide whether banning FGM violates strict scrutiny.

          I still don’t see a primary Federal authority, here.

        • Frank Anderson says

          Apr 30, 2017 at 2:21 pm

          Manual, why do you insist on “primary” federal law? FGM is abuse. Federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination, including abuse, on the basis of sex. Only women can suffer FGM, therefore their civil rights under federal law are being violated. 18 U.S.C. Section 2 says that anyone who aids, abets, counsels or acts in furtherance of a crime is equally guilty of the crime. 18 U.S.C. Section 4 says that anyone who has knowledge of a federal felony, does the least act to conceal the felony, and fails to report it can be prosecuted and sent to prison for up to 3 years, and fined up to $250,000 for an individual and $750,000 for a corporation, for every offense. So how much more is needed? There is plenty of law already in force to deal with the problem, if you can find a prosecutor. If you can’t then all the law on “the books” makes no difference whatever.

          Required by bar rule-I am retired. Please consult a currently licensed and practicing attorney in your jurisdiction. The attorney should be familiar with federal witness protection issues or will not be prepared to give competent advice.

        • Manual Paleologos says

          May 1, 2017 at 9:53 am

          @Frank Anderson:

          Manual, why do you insist on “primary” federal law? FGM is abuse. Federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination, including abuse, on the basis of sex. Only women can suffer FGM, therefore their civil rights under federal law are being violated.

          I think that’s an end-around, but it might work. It is an interesting argument.

          There is plenty of law already in force to deal with the problem, if you can find a prosecutor. If you can’t then all the law on “the books” makes no difference whatever.

          I agree. The current abuse statutes appear to cover the issue adequately, as long as they’re enforced.

          Thanks for the chat. 🙂

        • Frank Anderson says

          May 1, 2017 at 3:32 pm

          Manual, thank you for the challenge. It is a good workout that helps me keep “fresh”.

          The first few days of law school (40 years ago) one of my professors discussed the difference between “civil law”, based on Roman and French law, that infects the world not influenced by British “common” law, such as the US. He observed that civil law works on a “hook” theory where every crime is specifically defined by a statute. If it is not so defined there is no crime. But common law works on a “net” theory where laws work together to cover acts that might not be recognized in detail, but is part of a general principle of criminal conduct.

          The outrage of FGM may not have a specific statute prohibiting it. I believe the theory we have been discussing is sound enough that a prosecutor would not lose his office and license prosecuting this case as long as enough evidence is available to support the charge. See “Mike Nifong” for what happens when there is not enough evidence. And follow Baltimore prosecutor and Harvard educated “Marilyn Mosby” to see what happens when 6 police officers are charged with murder without sufficient evidence.

          There is no reason to allow FGM in the US. Deporting people who perform it is far too light to deter future criminal conduct. Long term imprisonment in populations that are known for hatred of child molesters and then deportation after they are unable to make more babies to mutilate seems better to me. Then not only they would be prevented from doing it to their own, others would have some reason to fear the consequences, and guess what? The unchangeable could be changed!

          Best wishes. Keep reading.

  10. gravenimage says

    Apr 29, 2017 at 12:37 am

    Federal law doesn’t require healthcare providers to report FGM despite half a million at risk
    ………………….

    This should come under child abuse, which *does* have to be reported. Hard to imagine a more clear-cut form of child abuse than genital mutilation.

  11. Creole Gumbo says

    Apr 29, 2017 at 10:04 am

    This article is overlooking the HIPPA laws that forbid doctors from revealing confidential medical information on their patients and the personal liability that comes with making such a report. Each doctor is personally liable and there are lots of hungry attorneys working with CAIR who will not hesitate to sue. The physician will then have to defend himself or herself irrespective of the legitimacy of the suit. From that point forward that doctor will be obligated to report the suit to every prospective employer and every hospital to which s/he requests admitting privileges. This is lose lose situation for the doctor.

    • Frank Anderson says

      Apr 29, 2017 at 8:13 pm

      Creole, the definition of “confidential” is subject to exceptions. Not even Hippa laws can excuse a failure to report child or elder abuse required by state law. There is a United States Supreme Court case regarding attorney-client privilege, the most demanding of all privileges to withhold testimony, that says a client who consults an attorney in aid of a crime or fraud will have no help from the law. He [the client] must let the truth be told. “It is settled that the attorney-client privilege is waived when the client uses the attorney-client relationship to engage in ongoing fraud rather than to defend against past misconduct.” Clark v. United States, 289 U.S. 1, 53 S.Ct. 465, 77 L.Ed. 993 (1933); See, also, In re Grand Jury, 640 F.2d 49 (7th Cir. 1980). (The presence of crime or fraud waives privilege [and confidentiality])

      Once privilege has been waived it cannot be reclaimed. United States v. Krasnov, 143 F.Supp 184 (E.D. Pa. 1951), aff’d sub nom, Oppenheimer v. United States, 355 U.S. 5 (1957).

      I have tried this issue several times and won every case forcing or allowing the attorney to tell what happened in what many in their ignorance think was an absolutely confidential setting. If an attorney is required to testify because no confidentiality exists, so is any other professional. What you see on television has very little to do with what the law really is.

      Any rule that is attempted by a state licensing body, such as a bar or board of medical examiners, to inhibit or punish a professional’s testimony as required by federal law is an obstruction of justice and would expose that body and its members and lawyers to their own legal problems for interfering with a federal witness. A federal witness is any person who knows material information, and expects to, is expected to or does actually provide that information to any agency or court of the United States. Se, e.g. Taran v. United States, 266 F.2d 561 (8th Cir. 1959). See also, United States v. Murray, 751 F.2d 1528 (9th Cir. 1985). See also 18 United States Code Section 1512, codifying the Victims and Witnesses Protection Act of 1982.

      It could be a good idea to review your notes.

      • Creole Gumbo says

        Apr 30, 2017 at 6:39 am

        Not sure what you mean by “review your notes.”

        But I have personally reported “suspected” child abuse, which is what it always is when the reports are made and I can assure you that it creates trouble for the doctor who does the reporting.

        First you are called and informed by the hospital or clinic administrator, or lawyer, that you have have made a customer, the parent, angry. (the hospital does not like to lose business) Then Child and Protective services wants you to “prove” that something was done and you are then questioned by a high school graduate with whom you cannot communicate medical issues to and who clearly does not want to be bothered and comes up with every excuse in the book to not proceed with an investigation. Then if it does go anywhere the parents can sue the reporting doctor for making the report. And whether it is correct or not the doctor has to defend himself or herself; and the fact that the case, even if unfounded, was filed it remains on a federal register and the doctor will forever s/he will have to defend the nature of the suit whenever s/he applies for new work or hospital privileges.

        I am well aware of the fact that there are laws but I am also aware of the realities that discourage doctors from reporting “suspected” abuse. Also the only way that a doctor would find out if FGM has taken place is to do a genital exam on the child, which is not routine in pediatrics exams. So unless there is a specific complaint from the child or parent to the genital area it will not be examined and not be discovered.

        • Frank Anderson says

          Apr 30, 2017 at 2:06 pm

          Creole, you are absolutely correct: Retaliation is a normal, expected and devastating part of performing your legal duty to report crime. Why would I know this? I reported, as is my duty, the theft of $200 Million IN PRESENT VALUE by a fraudulent coal arrangement to federal agents who were in on the scheme. I also questioned the ethics law in a state where the informant’s identity is never protected and is revealed immediately to the person breaking the law, guaranteeing retaliation, for example, Governor Robert Bentley’s firing of his Secretary of Law Enforcement, Spencer Collier, for reporting Bentley’s extra-marital affair while in office.

          With 35 years of research, litigation and victories, there is an alternative to professional suicide: using the attorney-client privilege to make the report anonymously. The 2 most beautiful words in the English language to an informant are Anonymity and Immunity. If you don’t make the report you may be accused of being part of the crime. Once your identity is known it is open season on your profession, reputation and life. But being aware of the case of Roviaro v United States, 353 U.S. 53 (1956), which describes an informants rights, can really make a difference.

          I wrote a letter to the Securities Exchange Commission when they were considering a rule requiring professionals, especially attorneys, to report corporate criminal conduct. I hope my letter and attached research article contributed to their adopting a rule authorizing instead of requiring the report, therefore making alternative approaches available. They published my letter and article, possibly to show people one way to make the report without committing suicide.

          Required by bar rule-I am retired. Please consult a currently licensed and practicing attorney in your jurisdiction. I share your outrage at the frequent lack of protection. Retaliation clearly violates in federal related cases, which can almost certainly extend into state matters, the law codified at 18 U.S.C. 1512, which recodifies and expands the previous statues and cases under 18 U.S.C. 1503 and 1505. But generally federal prosecutors “have more important things to do” until they are exposed as aiding, abetting, counselling and acting in furtherance of the crime being reported by their refusal to act. See, 18 U.S.C. Section 2.

  12. Manual Paleologos says

    Apr 29, 2017 at 10:05 am

    FGM is child abuse. Period. Most health care workers in most, if not all, states are mandated reporters. They are required by law to report suspected child abuse to the child welfare agency in their state. That’s where any deficiency lies. IIRC, about half the states do not specifically outlaw FGM. That makes it harder in those states, particularly since child welfare workers tend to be libturds. But this is a state issue.

    General criminal law is not an area where the Federal has much authority under the Constitution.

    • Jeanette says

      Apr 29, 2017 at 2:41 pm

      How disturbing to learn that we are living in a country that is just as primitive as Islam is on this issue.

  13. Don Fredrick says

    Apr 29, 2017 at 11:07 am

    What? FGM is illegal, yet the Feds have an ICD-10 medical code for it: N90.810. Why is there such a code? Any physician who uses it should be locked up!

    • Manual Paleologos says

      May 1, 2017 at 4:58 pm

      Is that a code for performing it, or a code for treating it?

      • Frank Anderson says

        May 1, 2017 at 5:39 pm

        I wonder if any devoted Muslims were in on writing the code? Could explain a lot.

  14. Jeanette says

    Apr 29, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    Federal law does, however, require that child abuse be reported.

    In fact, I think that if a licensed medical or child care agent even suspects abuse, they are required to report it to CPS, at least.

    So what’s the problem? Have the Muslims succeeded in getting FGM labeled as not child abuse?

    • Jeanette says

      Apr 29, 2017 at 2:42 pm

      Never mind; I just read Manuel’s comment above.

      Sad to think that some of America is just as savage as Muslims on this issue.

      And, as usual, where are the feminists?

      • Manual Paleologos says

        Apr 30, 2017 at 11:28 am

        I don’t know that we’re “just as savage as Muslims on this issue,” but a bunch of states never thought of writing such a law. Until very recently, it was so rare as to be a non issue. If anything, it’s a matter of neglect by the lawmakers, although now, I bet you would get a lot of pushback from the Democrats. After all, all cultures are equal. {SPIT}

        • Frank Anderson says

          Apr 30, 2017 at 2:23 pm

          Manual, AMEN especially to your last sentence.

  15. solange silverman says

    Apr 29, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    How is it that a male doctor is allowed to perform FGM? Does the patient then need to be stoned? (Sarcasm Key Here)

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