The Raelians have championed some strange causes in the movement’s 25-year history, including aliens and human clones, but now they are going to bat for a body part — the clitoris.
Most people will be unfamiliar with this practice, which involves removing part or all of the clitoris, the surrounding labia (the outer part of the vagina) and sometimes the sewing up of the vagina, leaving only a small opening for urine and menstrual blood.
Egypt has announced that it is imposing a complete ban on female circumcision, also known as genital mutilation.
A Swedish court has jailed a Somali man for four years for forcing his 13-year-old daughter to be circumcised. Swedish citizen Ali Elmi Hayow, 41, held his daughter down while the operation was carried out, the court said, although he denied the charges. It is the first conviction in Sweden since the country banned the practice in 1982. Female circumcision, common in parts of Africa, involves the partial or total removal of the external genital organs. ‘Clear and coherent’ The court determined that Hayow had forced his daughter to undergo circumcision during a visit to Somalia in 2001. “He decided
LAS VEGAS, May 15 /PRNewswire/ — Following the announcement made by Dr. Lankonade, OBGYN in Burkina Faso, stating that women and children of all ages who have suffered the indignation and torture of clitoral excise (the equivalent of male castration in its barbarity) now have the chance to regain sexual pleasure and once again be whole thanks to medical advances and the progression of science, RAEL, spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement, decided to help as many women as possible to regain their sense of pleasure and founded CLITORAID, a private non-profit organization that will sponsor those who want to
BBC, Mar. 23, 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Parents who take their daughters out of the country to undergo circumcision will face 14 years imprisonment under plans backed by the government. Home Secretary David Blunkett says he is determined to outlaw “this vile practice” by closing a loophole in the law that would have banned it 17 years ago. Female circumcision involves the surgical removal of the clitoris and sometimes parts of the labia, reducing the ability to feel sexual pleasure. Some people from ethnic minorities avoid prosecution by arranging for girls to have the operation during a “holiday” abroad. Labour MP Ann