Australian Charged Over Jakarta Genital Mutilation of Baby Girl

Jakarta Globe – AFP, January 28, 2014

A mother holds her daughter’s hand as she is circumcised in Bandung in
this Feb. 10, 2013 file photo. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)

Sydney. An Australian man appeared in court Tuesday charged over the genital mutilation of his nine-month-old daughter in Indonesia, where police allege she was circumcised.

The child was taken to Jakarta for the procedure between February and March of 2012, according to documents tendered Tuesday in Sydney’s Manly Local Court.

The incident didn’t come to light until six months later, when the infant’s mother took her to the doctor, the court was told.

She allegedly had her clitoral tissue removed and underwent a labial fusion, according to police documents in the case.

Her father, who has not been named for legal reasons, was arrested in December and charged with aiding, abetting or procuring female genital mutilation.

He is on bail and will return to court in March. It is only the second case of female genital mutilation to be brought before the courts in New South Wales.

Australian authorities say the practice, while often conducted in secret, is more common than the number of reports and prosecutions would suggest.

While no official data is available to measure the extent of the practice in Indonesia, it is common in the country of 240 million people, according to aid agencies.

Indonesia banned female circumcision in 2006 but backtracked in 2010, arguing that many parents were still having their daughters circumcised by unskilled traditional doctors who often botched the procedure.

Religious leaders and adherents say they are following the practices of Prophet Mohammed in having women circumcised so they are “clean.”

According to the World Health Organization about 140 million women and girls worldwide are living with the consequences of female genital mutilation, which is most common in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The procedure was banned by the United Nations in December 2012.

Agence France-Presse

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Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear and beloved Kryon: What should we know about "Brit-Mila" (Jewish circumcision)?

Answer: All circumcision was based on commonsense health issues of the day, which manifested itself in religious-based teaching. That basically is what made people keep doing it. This eighth-day-from-birth ritual is no more religious today than trimming your fingernails (except that Brit-Mila is only done once, and it hurts a bit more).

It's time to start seeing these things for what they are. Common sense is not static. It's dynamic, and related to the culture of the time. Yesterday's common sense about health changed greatly with the discovery of germs. It changed again with practices of cleanliness due to the discovery of germs, and so on. Therefore, we would say that it really doesn't make a lot of difference in today's health practices. It's done almost totally for cultural historic and traditional purposes and holds no energy around it other than the obvious intent of the tradition.

This is also true for a great deal of the admonishments of the Old Testament regarding food and cleanliness, and even the rules of the neighborhood (such as taking your neighbor's life if he steals your goat, or selling your daughter in slavery if you really need the money... all found in scripture). The times are gone where these things matter anymore, yet they're still treated with reverence and even practiced religiously in some places. They're now only relics of tradition, and that's all. If you feel that you should honor a tradition, then do it. If not, then don't. It's not a spiritual or health issue any longer.

Be the boss of your own body and your own traditions. Follow what your spiritual intuition tells you is appropriate for your own spiritual path and health.