Reblogged from The Case Against Intactivism:
I have two blog posts planned for the night. I think I'll go ahead and start on one of the most ridiculous claims put forth by intactivists. One that's roundly mocked by pretty much anyone with two braincells to rub together.
There's an oft-posted blog about a baby girl from Malaysia's circumcision. In the blog, photos of the baby girl are shown, and then a couple of photos of the almost invisible piece of tissue removed from her clitoris.
Related articles
- What Is Female Genital Mutilation? (medicalnewstoday.com)
- Female genital mutilation has medical benefits? (freethoughtblogs.com)
- Theresa May: 'Shocking' number of girls still undergoing female genital mutilation in the UK (dailymail.co.uk)
- What is Female Circumcision (socyberty.com)
- 2,000 More African Communities End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in 2011 (prweb.com)
- Female Genital Mutilation: Fire Eyes The Movie (koolnews.wordpress.com)
![Rehtaeh Parsons, a teen from Nova Scotia, was a gorgeous, kind, straight-A student with her whole life ahead of her. On Thursday, she hung herself in her bathroom. On Sunday night, her family took her off life-support. Approximately a year and a half earlier, in November 2011, when Rehtaeh was 15 years old, she was reportedly gang-raped by four boys, classmates of hers. The trauma did not end there. One of the boys reportedly took a photo of the act and circulated it among Rehtaeh’s school and community where, as noted, by Rehtaeh’s mother, “it quickly went viral.” Authorities reportedly investigated the sexual assault but claimed there was insufficient evidence to make formal charges. Rehtaeh’s mother recalls the investigation: They didn’t even interview the boys until much, much later. To me, I’d think you’d get the boys right away, separate them…. Nothing was done about [the photos] because they couldn’t prove who had pressed the photo button on the phone. [She was told that the distribution of the photos is] not really a criminal issue, it’s more of a community issue. Even though she was 15 at the time, which is child pornography…. The whole case was full of things like that. We didn’t have a rape kit done because we didn’t even know (anything had happened) until several days later when she had a breakdown in my kitchen. She was trying to keep it to herself. Tormented and bullied, Rehtaeh was forced to leave her school and tried to start fresh in a new community. Despite efforts, she continued to struggle, at one point checking into a hospital to cope with suicidal thoughts, anger, and depression. In an extensive post on a Facebook memorial page, her mother Leah Parsons described how the straight-A high school student became depressed and suicidal after the incident. “The person Rehtaeh once was all changed one dreaded night in November 2011. She went with a friend to another’s home. In that home she was raped by four young boys . . . one of those boys took a photo of her being raped and decided it would be fun to distribute the photo to everyone in Rehtaeh’s school and community where it quickly went viral,” Leah Parsons wrote. “Because the boys already had a ‘slut’ story, the victim of the rape Rehtaeh was considered a slut. “This day changed the lives of our family forever.” Rehtaeh, who was a 15-year-old high school student in Cole Harbour at the time, was repeatedly bullied at school and “suddenly shunned by almost everyone she knew.” “She was never left alone. She had to leave the community. Her friends turned against her. People harassed her. Boys she didn’t know started texting her and Facebooking her asking her to have sex with them. It just never stopped,” her mother told CBC.](http://ayannanahmias.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/rehtaeh-parsons-17-canadian-rape-victim-commits-suicide-3.jpg?w=45&h=45&crop=1){kind=small}
16/02/2012 at 16:06
Actually my favorite take on this is the second article in the “Related Articles” from freethoughtblog. I frequently wonder if people like Dr. Haamid al-Ghawaabi can hear themselves when they say stupid things like that.
I realize what a spoiled American I am when I read things like this and say to myself: “People really DO THIS?” I like what you’re doing with the Cipher Report – keep up the great (and eye-opening) work!
16/02/2012 at 11:59
I started to go for the like-button, but I stopped, because it felt immoral. I agree unequivocally that this must be put an end to though!
16/02/2012 at 12:03
Totally understand. It is not anything that we should ‘Like,’ but I found his take on the matter engaging. Had to read it three times before I realized that he was not writing in support of this abhorrent practice. I seek to make people take pause and think, and I know this article did this for me, and I hope for other readers as well.
04/06/2012 at 18:04
I’m actually a female. But thanks. My blog was not written in support of the practice of FGM or FGC, but rather, to point out how horrific it is, and how comparisons to RIC (routine infant circumcision) in this country are ridiculous. Sometimes it can be comparable (the mild formed showcased in that blog), but most of the time it simply is not. What is done to women in Africa and the Middle East is so much more damaging than the typical RIC performed in the US.
Thank you for your support of my article. My position on RIC is fairly nuanced, so I appreciate your comment, Ayanna.