Gardaí are investigating after a toddler was brought to hospital for genital injuries her parents claim she received from falling on a child’s toy.
The 18-month-old girl’s mother is the latest to be questioned, spending all day on Tuesday at Dublin’s Sundrive Road Garda Station. Her father was originally arrested and released without charge in September, when the child’s injuries were reported to Gardaí by concerned hospital staff.
Both parents, who deny any knowledge of the genital mutilation of their daughter, are from Africa and live in Dublin. The child remains in their care.
According to the The Herald, Gardaí enlisted the help of UK experts in Female Genital Mutilation (FMG). An older female relative of the child is also likely to be questioned as part of the investigation.
A source told the paper:
“The parents in this case have been arrested because the toddler was in their care,” said a source.
“…there is clear evidence that the genital mutilation happened but there is no clear evidence of who carried out the act at this stage.”
Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. The procedure has no health benefits and can cause severe pain, shock, bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
More than 125 million women worldwide have suffered FGM and the practice is most persistent in Africa and the Middle East.
FGM is punishable in Ireland through the Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2012. Anyone found guilty of carrying out the practice faces the maximum fine of up to €10,000 or imprisonment for up to 14 years, or both.
In December 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the elimination of FGM, but with three million girls still at risk each year and an estimated 5,277 victims in Ireland, it is clear that there is more work to do.
