[Action alerts]
Alert 1:

Globe and Mail Mar 17, 1995

QUEBEC WILL PROSECUTE WHEN GIRLS ARE CIRCUMCISED Genital mutilation a
'criminal violation of integrity,' rights commission legal brief says. 

MONTREAL
    The Quebec Human Rights Commission has issued an unusual public
warning that it will vigorously prosecute parents and doctors who subject
girls to the practice of female circumcision. 
    "Sexual mutilation of women constitutes a criminal violation of a
person's integrity....a fundamental violation of democratic principles,"
Hailou Wolde-Giorghis and Maurice Drapeau wrote in a legal brief prepared
for the government agency. 
    The legal experts rejected the argument that the practice is protected
by the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. 
    In fact, they said female circumcisions, which is not explicitly
forbidden by Canadian law, violates fundamental freedoms guaranteed under
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and constitutes sexual discrimination,
because the "ultimate objective is the permanent subjugation of a woman to
the will of a man." 
    Although the Human Rights Commission normally investigates only
specific complaints of discrimination, it decided to make a pronouncement
on female circumcision after media reports last fall revealed excision of
the clitoris and infibulation (sewing s hut the vagina) is being practiced
in Quebec and other parts of Canada.  Prepubescent girls in parts of
northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula are still subjected to genital
mutilation, the report noted. 
    The researchers said massive immigration from these regions in recent
years raises concern that the practice will be imported to Canada. 
    Dr. Claude Fortin, a Montreal doctor, told the World Congress of
Obstetrics and Gynecology last year that a dozen or more defibulation
operations (reopening the vagina) are performed each year in the city, an
indication of the scope of the problem. 
    In its 10-page legal opinion, the commission warned that the parents
of the victim, the medical practitioner and the hospital or clinic where
he or she is employed could all face criminal charges and civil suits on a
case of genital mutilation, and it invited anyone aware of a case to
contact it. 
    Justice Minister Paul Begin has asked his federal counterpart, Allan
Rock, to amend the Criminal Code to outlaw female circumcision.  The
Canadian Council on the Status of Women has made an identical request. 
Mr. Rock has rejected the calls, saying e existing laws, such as assault
causing bodily harm, could be used to successfully prosecute doctors who
mutilate a girl. 

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The Quebec Human Rights Commission can be reached at:
360 Rue Saint-Jacques 8th floor
Montreal Quebec
H2Y 1P5
Canada

Quebec Justice Minister Paul Begin can be reached at:
Ministry of Justice
1200 Route L'Eglise 9th floor
Ste. Foy, Quebec
G1V 4M1
Canada

Allan Rock can be reached at:
Honourable Alan Rock Q.C.
239 Wellington St.
Ottawa, Ont
K1A 0H8
Canada