Tuesday, October 31, 2006

An Ethiopian Woman Says “Khalid Adem is Innocent”

I have sat through enough acrimonious divorce proceedings to know the levels to which people will stoop to get their own way. Divorce hearings have got to be some of the ugliest experiences in the world, even to those just forced to observe or testify. You can leave the courtroom wanting a drink and a shower — in that order.

Khalid AdemUnfortunately, judges don’t have time to read child development research, or even basic, long-proved data on the harm that interrupted attachments have on developing children. Tangentially, just think of the repeated, thoughtless replacements of au pairs and nannies by those who can afford to hire them. The kids no sooner get attached to one caretaker only to find her replaced by someone else. And they no sooner form a bond with one mommy or daddy only to have her or him replaced by the next brief alliance in a string of serial marriages. I mean, in case you wonder why Hollowood children seem a bit messed up, those are two contributing factors right there.

In the Female Genital Mutilation case in Georgia, the discrepancies in the case are so large that anyone reasonably versed in child development — say, your average parent — would be able to drive a truck through the holes in what appears to be a cruel scam.
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Today, a comment came in from an Ethiopian woman whose opinion validates what I also suspect: Adem was set up.

Here is what she says:

As a woman from Ethiopia, I can tell you that there is no way Khalid could have circumcised his daughter.

Men never ever do the actual circumcision of girls. If done, it is arranged by the grandmother or mother with a female practitioner.

The grandmother and mother did it to help their divorce case. They should be investigated for hurting the girl. The mother did not notice the circumcision because it was not done until she did it herself with her grandmother. She is lying.

Please see my blog on this issue

The whole case is a farce

Her post is here. This is a snip:

However, FMC is also no longer practiced by significant portions of the urban population of Ethiopia. Talk to a random group of young Ethiopian women from Addis Ababa and they will tell you that they have not been circumcised (unlike their mothers). A lot of urban Ethiopians don’t even know what this practice entails.

Khalid simply does not fit the profile of an Ethiopian who would insist that his daughter be circumcised. He is not a nomad or peasant who immigrated from rural Ethiopia. He grew up in metropolitan Addis Ababa and came to the US at the age of sixteen. He is an educated, urban and modern African man who became an adult in America. It is extremely unlikely that a person like him would even think of having his daughter circumcised — let alone do it himself.

In Ethiopian, men never ever get involved in the actual ritual of female circumcision. FMC is a female ritual, and it is always the women (especially the grandmothers) that insist on and arrange for the circumcision ritual by a traditional practitioner.

So. It may be just as I suspected. Certainly, it is just as Hirsi Ali described it. Only she was five years old, not two. And there was no anesthesia or pain medicine, as there may have been in this incident.

This case cries out for justice. May the jury see what seems so plain from here.

6 comments:

Beach Girl said...

Mike from Detroit, white men don't seem to have much solidarity either. Matter of fact, that is one of white folks problems. We believe in the notion of "individual" rights and responsibilities. One white man suggested a few years back that white people needed their own lobbying group, similar to the NAACP. He was howled off the stage as a racist. White people in America, at least, are just not trained in group-think.

My word, this father did not mutilate his daughter. Will he be convicted of it? Probably. I think along with immigrant application forms, new immigrants must get a booklet on how to manipulate our legal system.

Dymphna said...

Mike from Detroit:

Sorry, but whatever your point is, I'm not getting it.

The point of *my* post was to say that this man may be the scapegoat of conniving women.

I talked to his lawyer's office today, and the intern thought the case looked hopeful for Adem. I do hope he gets cleared of this bogus charge and then sues his tormentors for defamation.

I didn't cut and paste your link because I don't understand what you're saying.

Men often get a bum deal, esp. in divorces. Not always, though. Sometimes they simply abandon everyone to their own fate...it depends on the individual character of the man.

Please don't generalize. This story is about one case, one man, and I think he's innocent.

So what is your point?

heroyalwhyness said...

My eyes are open, thanks anyway el grumpo. Turns out Dad was convicted. http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20061101-030904-3061r.htm

United Press International

Front Page > UPI Page
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Man convicted in daughter' circumcision

Nov. 1, 2006 at 4:11PM

A jury in Atlanta found a man guilty for what human rights activists call the genital mutilation of his daughter.
Khalid Adem could be sentenced up to 40 years for his conviction of aggregated battery and cruelty to children charges, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Wednesday.
Adem, 31, cried after the verdict was read, the newspaper reported.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Authorities say Adem, 31, circumcised his daughter in 2001 when the girl was 2; the mother reported it in 2003, the Journal-Constitution said. Health and human rights activists call the procedure female genital mutilation.
During the trial, Adem claimed his ex-wife and the maternal grandmother circumcised the girl, now 7, the Journal-Constitution said.

OMMAG said...

So if the women involved are volunteers are they charged too? As accomplices!

Beach Girl said...

NO, pgp. In America, we don't think women would do such a horrible thing to their daughters. We are wrong. I hope this man has good attorneys who will appeal.

History Snark said...

Mia,

Sorry to hear about you going through this, but I have a question that ties in with it. How likely is it that his wife was also involved? If so, then she should also be imprisoned. That's the main point of the article- that FGM is the responsibility of the women- Mother, Grandmother, etc.