Female mutilation all too common

With Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital yearly treating between 600 – 700 females with mutilated genitalia, so called female circumcision is a problem even in Australia. Experts suggest that rather than jail those responsible, a more measured approach is required:

If we try and dictate and pontificate about this and not provide culturally appropriate care, we'll further disenfranchise those women.

Any progress will be incremental. I don't think that it's something that will stop overnight.

But I think all we can do is advocate against it, speak out, try to educate women, try to empower women, certainly in this country, and we should do our best for international organisations that are also espousing the same message.

It is unclear exactly why those of any particular group, religious or otherwise, should be exempt from prosecution for a sadistic crime. So go ahead, slice away; we disapprove but aren't going to to say anything out of fear of offending you.

By the way, the article mentions neither Islam nor Muslims yet the story's tags are "religion-and-beliefs, islam, women, australia".