Muammar Al Khadafi

Despite recent reports indicating an increasing problem of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Bristol, police have confirmed that despite 3 arrests being made there have been no successful prosecutions.

Estimates voiced by the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board stated that up to 2,000 girls are at risk of the vile practice, and that's just in the Bristol area alone.

Yet, not only have there been no successful prosecutions in Bristol, there have actually been none nationwide at all. Those facilitating the practice could be imprisoned for up to 14 years, and yet to date not one person has been convicted.

Indeed, it seems that the practice of FGM has flourished within the UK.

Bristol based campaigner Nimco Ali, of Somalian origin, who came to the UK at the age of 4, herself underwent the procedure whilst aged 7.

Speaking to the BBC she said that "I only met somebody in my community that wasn't cut a few years ago and she came from Sweden. I didn't know anybody from the Somali community that wasn't cut"

Since she has been here since the age of 4 then that would certainly seem to indicate that, among the Somalian community at least, it is still prevalent and British law which prohibits it is being ignored.

Incidents also appear to be rising, with Detective Chief Inspector Dave McCallum noting that there were four referrals to authorities in the Bristol area in 2009, but this had quadrupled to sixteen referrals in 2010.

"We're getting four or five times the number of referrals we were a few years ago across the board" he told the BBC. The reasons why should be obvious.

And yet, both locally and nationwide, we see no prosecutions whatsoever.

One has to wonder why this is considering the fact that - with medical intervention - it would be easy to prove whether a girl had fallen victim to this.

And we already know that it is a widespread practice among certain communities, and that teachers and healthcare professionals are being trained to spot the signs.

Could it be that cultural sensitivity once again prevents any real action from being taken?

Either way, rising cases and how widespread this issue is shows that, yet again, an imported problem gains a solid foothold in the UK.

The problem did not exist before, and it will not go away because we legislate against it. Simply living in Britain will not compel foreign communities to throw away what they consider to be tradition, whether the law demands it of them or not.

By virtue of mass immigration, problems from the world over suddenly become our problems, it is lunacy to think that mere residency in the UK will act as a 'civilising' factor and see these practices vanish into the history books.

It will take hundreds of years, or longer, for deeply embedded cultural traditions to change, and sadly it is now Britains problem, placing an added burden on the authorities and medical practitioners.

Bristol is to host a series of events aimed at raising awareness of something which can in no way be described as an indigenous problem - that of female genital mutilation.

The series of events will see Easton Community Centre staging a family day and picnic, including workshops and childrens activities, on June 25.

June 30 will see the Watershed screen a docu-drama film called "The Silent Scream". The film was made as part of a project ran by Integrate Bristol, and features interviews with Detective Chief Inspector Dave MacCallum, Dr Comfort Momoh and Sheikh Abdalla Yassin.

July 9th is another film, this time The Cutting Tradition, which was part funded by the International Federation of Gynaecology.

"Genital mutilation is an issue that we need to continue to highlight. It is estimated that around 2,000 girls in Bristol are potentially at risk of either being subject to it here or abroad.....It's great to see that this is now being taken forward at a grassroots level" said Dr Ray Jones, Chairman of Bristol Safeguarding Children Board.

Female genital mutilation is, of course, not a problem which beset the UK before the event of mass enrichment, it being a cultural practice imported from countries such as Somalia and Sudan.

It's great to see that it now exists in the UK, and to such an extent that it is estimated 2,000 girls in Bristol alone are at risk of it. Just another benefit of mass immigration, importing barbaric practices from the world over into our own society.