Woman Convicted in UK for Assisting Female Genital Mutilation in Kenya in Landmark Case

Amina Noor, a British citizen originally from Somalia, has been found guilty of facilitating FGM on a three-year-old British girl during a trip to Kenya in 2006 - the first successful prosecution under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 for FGM committed abroad, scheduling sentencing for December.

Amina Noor, a UK citizen from Somalia, has been convicted for assisting in female genital mutilation (FGM) of a three-year-old British girl in Kenya during a trip in 2006. This act is a legal first and marks the first successful prosecution of FGM committed abroad under the UK's Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
Noor, who claimed that she was under 'cultural pressure' to comply, faced the allegations after the now 21-year-old victim confided in a school teacher in 2015 that she had endured FGM. Medical examination later confirmed that the girl's clitoris had been completely removed.
Despite claiming that she expected only a 'touch' on the girl's genitals that would cause them to bleed, the prosecution stated that Noor had knowledge of the impending FGM and that she had repeatedly denied being threatened to agree to the procedure.
Female genital mutilation is a widespread practice in East Africa, particularly among the Somali community living in Kenya, with United Nations data suggesting that 94% of women of Somali origin in Kenya have undergone the procedure.
Noor's conviction is the second successful prosecution under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. The first case in 2019 involved a Ugandan woman in East London, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Amina Noor's sentencing has been scheduled for December 20.