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Fri 11 Nov 2008States do little to prevent female genital mutilation
The European Court is to rule on the case of an Irish-based African mother who fears her children will be subjected to female genital mutilation if she is forced back to Nigeria. Such treatment is classified by the UN as torture - but there's no agreement on how to counter it, writes CAROL COULTER.
THE CASE of Pamela Izevbekhai, which is now going to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, highlights the practice of female genital mutilation widely carried out in many African and some Asian countries, and the response of asylum decision-making bodies in Europe.
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