Father subjects daughter to FGM twice to ‘punish her,’
Old Bailey hears
FILE PHOTO. © Reuters
A father subjected his nine-year-old daughter to female genital mutilation (FGM) to punish her. The girl was subjected to the traumatic practice on two occasions, the Old Bailey has heard.
The father, 50, and from west Africa, allegedly allowed for his UK-born daughter, now 16, to be cut in their south London home because he believed she had stolen money. The court heard the girl was stripped from the waist down and cut on the floor of the family’s hallway.
Jurors were told the victim could not tell whether the cutter was a man or a woman. She had begged for the mutilation to stop, but her father kept “egging the person” on.
Mark Heywood QC, for the prosecution, told the court: “She was not given any medicine or painkillers. It was painful and she begged for it to stop... It bled a lot at the time, but her father would not listen. She was told to be quiet and keep still. She had been crying and begging. He simply encouraged the person to keep on doing it, egging them on."
The victim had to relive the abuse a second time, as her father forced it on her after the initial wound had healed. It was carried out in the same way and context of the first instance.
There is no medical reason for FGM, and it is not advocated for in any religious text. However, communities mainly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia still consider the procedure a milestone on the female path to adulthood.
“This was not apparently out of any cultural or family reason, but more, as she understood it, as way of punishment,” a court at the Old Bailey was told.
The 50-year-old man denies two charges of committing female genital mutilation between May 30, 2010 and June 1, 2013. He also denies two charges of wounding with intent and three charges of cruelty to three children.
Kate Bex QC, for the defense, told the court her client denied the allegations in their entirety, whether within an FGM context or otherwise. “He will tell you FGM is most commonly performed by women… for reasons of honor and social acceptance, not for punishment, physical chastisement or dishonesty.”
Despite FGM cases in the UK reportedly increasing five-fold since 2014, only 36 have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since 2010. Despite the government having criminalized FGM in 1985, there has not been a single successful prosecution.
Defectors: Rape is rite of passage for
North Korean women
By Elizabeth Shim
North Korean women experience high levels of sexual violence in their country and in China, say women who have defected. File Photo by Andrew Wong/UPI | License Photo
NEW YORK, UPI -- A defector who says she was raped in a North Korean prison camp and was a victim of human trafficking in China said most North Korean women who work with brokers have experienced some form of rape.
May Joo, 37, who resettled in the United States after leaving North Korea in 2005, told UPI on Monday that even rape victims do not know the act is categorically a crime.
"That's because [North Koreans] do not have a concept of human rights," Joo said. "The violation of women's rights, they don't know what that is. "Rape victims just think, 'Well, I guess that happened.' It never occurs to them to speak up, or seek justice."
In the era of a global #MeToo movement, where women are increasingly vocalizing their anger and naming perpetrators of sexual abuse, the lack of rights protection for North Korean women is a reminder the Kim Jong Un regime -- which stunned the world by offering to talk with U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in -- has yet to address what may be the most pressing issue in the country.
Yoonseo Lee, 32, whose hometown is in North Korea's South Hwanghae Province, said sexual violence is a serious problem in North Korea, but incidents of rape are more common in China. "Getting raped is preferable to arrest in China," said Lee, who resettled in South Korea. "Because the minute you alert the authorities, you are arrested."
Arrest was the most dreaded consequence for Lee, who left North Korea in 2010. Arrest was a prospect so terrifying for the young woman she said she carried poison with her as she left the country, in case she was caught.
Joo was less fortunate.
Speaking before an audience gathered to hear her speak at a Working Group on North Korean Women event in New York, Joo said she was raped by a North Korean "political officer" when she was arrested, after trying to slip back into the country with money she earned in China.
Joo had left for China to earn enough money, or about $1,300, that she could use to pay for her son's surgery, after he suffered third-degree burns and was unable to properly use his fingers.
The defector said she hid the money inside her rectum because she had heard the security agents would inspect a woman's uterus. After rape in detention, her guards ordered her to defecate, and eventually found her hidden funds, she said.
"I begged for forgiveness, saying the money was for my son's surgery," Joo said, adding the guards later beat her with a wooden bat and pulled her hair until "clumps" fell out. "They were like a pack of hyenas fighting with each other to take my money," the defector said.
The thorny issue of North Korea human rights was not addressed in South Korean officials' meeting with Kim in Pyongyang last week, and Trump agreed to talks, planned for May, because denuclearization appeared to be on the agenda.
But Joo, who described North Korea's rocket launches as the "shooting of North Koreans' rations into space," said Kim cannot be trusted. "A hyena can never transform itself into a lamb," she told UPI. "The North Korean leader is definitely not someone who will ever give up nuclear weapons."
The U.S.-North Korea summit had not been mentioned in Pyongyang's media statements by late Monday, but that is not unusual, Joo and Lee told UPI.
"North Korea never reports in advance major summits between leaders," Lee said. "That's how the North Korean system is, not telling the population of the important event." Events are reported only after they take place, so that during a "meeting with a Trump or a South Korean president, you don't hear about it," Lee said.
Joo suggested that the regime's avoidance of preliminary announcements of major developments, like a decision on a Trump-Kim summit, is an indicator the planned meeting may not be in the best interest of the North Korean leader.
"No, [the summit] is not something Kim Jong Un wants," she said. "Even among results of a major event, only the points that are advantageous to the state are reported afterward."
South Korean police looking into 55 people accused of sexual crimes in #MeToo movement
By Jennie Oh
Participants show their support for the '#MeToo' movement during a rally for women laborers by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, coinciding with International Women's Day, in downtown Seoul, South Korea, 08 March 2018. Photo by Yonhap.
SEOUL, UPI -- South Korean police are scrutinizing numerous high-profile figures accused of sexual crimes amid the country's growing #MeToo movement. The National Police Agency said Tuesday that inspectors are looking into sexual violence and harassment allegations made against a total of 55 people.
Official probes on ten of the alleged perpetrators, including renowned theatre director Lee Yoon-taek, have already begun, E Daily reported.
Police on Monday raided Lee's home in central Seoul and various theatre companies he worked in, and are wrapping up interviews with 16 alleged victims who filed complaints against him. The former director, who has been accused of sexual violence and rape, is likely to be summoned for questioning sometime this week.
Police are also conducting preliminary probes on 15 figures including filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, photographer Rotta and Kim Duck-jin, the secretary-general of the Catholic Human Rights Committee of Seoul.
As for 30 other individuals accused of sexual crimes, including actor Cho Jae-hyun, investigators are aiming to confirm facts regarding the allegations against them.
With the number of #MeToo allegations increasing by the day, President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday encouraged the country's police force uphold the courage and dignity of women speaking out on sexual abuses made against them, Yonhap reported.
At a commissioning ceremony for graduates of Korean National Police University, Moon called on officers to treat victims of sexual violence with empathy and do their best to prevent any secondary damage that could occur during investigations, such as retaliation from the offender.
Justice Minister to push for tougher punishments
for child sex crimes
Finland's Justice Minister, Antti Häkkänen, says he wants stronger punishments for sex offenses against children.
Justice Minister Antti Häkkänen has called for an overhaul of laws around sexual offences committed against children, with tougher punishments and new offences to be considered.
Last autumn, a few months after taking office, Häkkänen asked civil servants to come up with proposals on stricter punishments for child sex crimes. Experts have now presented their recommendations for new offences covering the most serious cases.
If a case involves both rape and child sexual abuse, there could be a new offence of aggravated rape of a child, carrying a sentence of between four and 12 years. The proposal also looks at raising the maximum sentence for child sex abuse from four to six years.
How about then changing that to 'minimum' sentences.
Outcry prompts reform
"Children should be protected from violence and sexual assault by all available means," said Häkkänen in a statement. "I asked officials for proposals on toughening the law on sex crimes. I regard these proposals as viable and I intend to advance them."
Häkkänen's original call for tougher sentencing came in the midst of a public outcry over the case of a man convicted of abusing a ten-year-old girl. He was not convicted of rape, but rather aggravated sexual abuse of a child. An aggravated rape charge was dismissed by the court because of a lack of evidence that the girl did not consent.
The prosecutor had sought an aggravated rape conviction on the grounds that the man had used force in the attack, and that the victim was too young to properly defend herself and resist her attacker.
The appeals court ruled that youth was not sufficient grounds to rule she was helpless, and that there was insufficient evidence of force being used.
Good grief! I hope there are a lot more proposals that will protect children rather than child rapists. A 10 y/o girl cannot give consent to an adult.
Former London Jehovah's Witness jailed for
decades of child sex abuse
A man who sexually abused three young girls by exploiting a "position of trust" in a Jehovah's Witnesses community has been jailed for 15 years.
Croydon Crown Court heard the girls were as young as five when the abuse by Michael John Hewitt, 71, began.
Hewitt, of Fremington, Devon, was found guilty of eight counts of indecency with children under the age of 16. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life during sentencing on Monday.
The abuse began in the 1980s and took place over several decades while Hewitt lived on Demesne Road in Wallington, south London.
There he abused young members of his Jehovah's Witness congregation. The abuse was carried out at his or the victims' homes, undetected by family members.
'Position of trust'
In January 2016 two of the victims reported what had happened to a family member who then contacted police.
In sentencing, the judge described Hewitt as a significant risk to young children and a dangerous offender. He was also served with a sexual harm prevention order and restraining order.
Det Con Janet Williams, from the Met Police, said: "The victims were abused by Hewitt at a very early age. Only when they were older were they able to understand what Hewitt subjected them to.
"Hewitt abused his position of trust to exploit the young girls for his own satisfaction. "
More arrests in historic child sex abuse investigation
in Belfast
The men were arrested in the Greater Belfast area this morning
POLICE have arrested two men in connection with an investigation into allegations of historical sexual child abuse in Co Down.
The men, aged 55 and 53, were arrested in the Greater Belfast area this morning.
They have been taken to Antrim police station to assist police with their enquiries.
Last week, two other men aged 67 and 60 were arrested in Newtownards and Ardglass as part of the same investigation.
Alleged sex abuse of young boys 'nothing short of horrific', police say
By Paige Cockburn
The experiences allegedly inflicted upon young boys at a former Sydney boys' home were "nothing short of horrific", police said while revealing the first arrest of their investigation.
Police say 80 alleged victims have come forward about historical child sex abuse at the Daruk Training School in Penrith in the late 1970s.
Most of the men were aged between 10 and 14 at the time of the alleged abuse.
Daruk was a government-run training school for juvenile offenders. (Supplied: State Library of NSW)
Police on Monday announced the arrest of a 67-year-old man in Jindalee, Queensland, who has been extradited and charged with 19 offences.
Detective Sergeant Ben Hallam said the evidence already gathered showed the extent of the alleged abuse. "The briefings I have been provided over the past 18 months shows experiences that these young boys had at the time was nothing short of horrific," he said.
"Some of these victims have been dealing with their experiences for many years, they haven't ever found a way to tell even family or friends what they have experienced."
Police are now asking more victims to come forward and speak up.
"This is the time," Detective Sergeant Hallam said. "We understand your experience may have been traumatic, you may have had a chequered past or you may have had adverse dealings with the police. We are not judging you, we actually want to hear from you so we can help you."
More charges are imminent with "multiple persons facing a series of serious charges", Detective Hallam said.
Any males who were at the Daruk Boys Home between 1965 and 1985 are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers or contact the Penrith or St Mary's police stations.
Any victims who have moved interstate are reminded that it is "no impediment" for police to travel to see them.
'Unbelievable' punishments
Glenn Cooper was sent to Daruk in 1969 as a 13-year-old and said he saw a lot of sexual and physical abuse at the facility.
"The things you experience are unbelievable," he said. "You are like little tin soldiers … it was survival mode."
Mr Cooper said on one occasion two men attempted to rape him. "A certain guy stepped in, he dropped these two blokes, then he took me behind a shed and dropped me a couple of times. He told me if you don't learn how to fight they are going to rape you and you are going to be used as one of their little toy boys."
In another instance, he was put into a small concrete room, stripped, and told to clean the walls and floors with a toothbrush.
He saw other boys being "used" by the wardens who would gang up and "rape the weaker ones. They would make them give oral sex."
Mr Cooper said the facility was supposed to be an institute for rehabilitation but as a result of the treatment by wardens, all of the boys grew into criminals. "None of us were rehabilitated … what was thrown at us was insecurity and rejection so we became a bunch of violent guys."
The government of the time needs to be held accountable, the now 61-year-old said. "All government departments that were involved with wards of the states in those days knew exactly what was going on in Daruk. Just throw them in there, we'll forget about them, what happens to them it doesn't matter."
But Mr Cooper said he was fortunately "one of the lucky ones" and had turned his life around and founded That's the Thing about Fishing. The not-for profit organisation helps those with mental health issues, youth in trouble and people with disabilities to find enjoyment in life through fishing.
Child sex abuse charges against rugby league ‘Immortal’ Graeme Langlands dropped
Local News
Child sex abuse charges against rugby league “Immortal” and former St George Illawarra Dragons player Graeme Langlands have been dropped as a result of his death two months ago.
The 76-year-old had been charged with six counts of indecently dealing with a girl under 16, dating back to 1982 on the Gold Coast.
The former Australian captain died in January before the Mental Health Court could assess his fitness to stand trial.
In December, criminal proceedings were suspended amid mental health concerns.
A magistrate had previously heard that Langlands was living in a nursing home in the Sutherland Shire, suffering from severe dementia and taking mood stabilisers and behaviour control drugs.
No lawyer appeared for Langlands during a brief procedural hearing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday afternoon.
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