Australia's First FGM Prosecution Begins Hearing in NSW Supreme Court

Monday 28 September 2015 @ 2.26 p.m. | Crime | Legal Research

Earlier this month (14 September 2015), the NSW Supreme Court began hearing the first prosecution in Australia for female genital mutilation (FGM) since the introduction of the Crimes Amendment (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2014 (No. 15) which made FGM an offence punishable in NSW by 21 years imprisonment.

What is FGM?

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), FGM involves "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."

FGM is also recognized internationally, as stated by WHO, as a violation of the human rights of girls and women and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is also violation of the rights of children.

What has currently been Australia's Response to FGM?

In December 2012. the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution, co-sponsored by Australia, banning the practice of female genital mutilation and encouraging member states to intensify efforts to eliminate this harmful practice.

As a result of this, on 24 May 2013, the "Review of Australia’s Female Genital Mutilation legal framework – final report", was published, detailing 7 recommendations for adopting a unified national approach to combating the practice of female genital mutilation, as, although FGM has been illegal in Australia since 1997, it has been largely dealt with by State and Territory Governments and there was no national approach.

This resulted in the National Female Genital Mutilation Summit on 9 April 2013 where over 80 representatives from Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, health professional colleges and peak bodies, non-government and community organisations, academics, advocates and individuals impacted by FGM, gathered to discuss the differences in State and Territory approaches to FGM and how the Commonwealth Government might be able to combine the approaches.

Background to the NSW Laws

After the National Summit in 2013, NSW introduced further amendments to its crime laws to address the deficiences in punishment and extraterritoriality identified by the Commonwealth Review.

The Crimes Amendment (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2014 (No. 15 of 2014) (Assented and commenced on 20 May 2014) amended the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW) in order to:

increase (from 7 years imprisonment to 21 years imprisonment) the maximum penalty for the offence of performing an act of female genital mutilation, or aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a person to perform such an act; and
create a separate offence (with a maximum penalty of 21 years imprisonment) if a person takes, or arranges for the taking of, another person from the State with the intention of having female genital mutilation performed on the other person.

Background to the Current FGM Prosecution

According to The Guardian, the trial of Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri, a woman known as KM and the mother of two girls who allegedly underwent the alleged FGM started hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday 14 September 2015:

"The mother, known as A2, is accused of arranging for two of her daughters to undergo FGM when they were each seven years old between 2010 and 2012. She is also accused of being present when the woman known as KM did the procedure.

Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri, a high ranking member of the clergy in the Dawoodi Bohra Shia Muslim community, is accused of helping the two women after the fact by telling people interviewed by police to say they did not believe in or practice FGM in Australia."

Reaction to Prosecution

According to the ABC News, Defence barrister Stuart Bouveng told the court that KM was asked by the girls' mother to perform "a symbolic ceremony" on her daughters. Mr Bouveng further said the court would hear evidence from a paediatrician that when he examined the girls he found no evidence of scarring and the clitoris appeared normal:

"The only real issue is to determine whether each of the girls had their clitoris mutilated or whether there was bodily harm inflicted on the girls in the ceremony."

The trial is expected to run for approximately 6 weeks and is still currently being heard in the NSW Supreme Court.

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