Sept 27th 2012, clinic
Imagine you live in a country where female genital mutilation ( FGM) is often culturally demanded, the “norm”. Your daughter is 13 years old. You disagree vehemently with her being “circumcised”. You learn that relatives are planning to take her from you and have this ritual primitive abuse performed on her. It happened recently to another young girl in your community. She bled to death in excruciating pain.
You and your husband “borrow” enough money to get you and your daughter plane tickets to Canada. But you are pregnant and at full term, due for delivery in just 3 weeks. So you take a chance, conceal the pregnancy under bulky clothes, and you board the plane. You leave your husband, and 10 year old daughter behind. You take your 13 year old to safety, away from this most horrific and deadly abuse.
Once here you meet with Canadian Immigration officials. You explain, you ask for help. No Interim Federal Health is provided. You leave empty handed while your refugee claim is in limbo. You are due in 7 days. You have little money, and are in a shelter.
This is the new way CIC now operates. It has its “new policies” we were told when we asked.
If this was your 13 year old daughter, what would you do? Would you let her be kidnapped? Would you allow her to be painfully mutilated at age 13 so she could prove she is a virgin at marriage? Would you allow this, so she could never enjoy intimacy at any time in her life, and tear open during the delivery of her future children?
Her mother had no intention of ever fleeing, let alone when she herself is pregnant and about to deliver! But she never expected her daughter would be in this danger.
Just exactly what should we do?