It is against the law, but everyone knows that it does occur, and sometimes by taking the innocent young child overseas where this barbaric procedure is inflicted on an unsuspecting child. And unfortunately, for the child, it does occur in Australia, from ABC News 06/02/2010:
'Health authorities in Australia say they are concerned about the growing number of women who have undergone some form of genital mutilation.
Female circumcision is illegal in Australia, but experts say there is evidence that it is being practised here.
More and more migrant women are also seeking help after having the procedure in their home countries.
Across Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, female genital mutilation is practised on about three million girls and women each year. The centuries-old custom has been outlawed in Australia since the 1990s.
But that has not stopped it happening here, according to Dr Ted Weaver from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
"There is some evidence to suggest that it does happen in certain parts of Australia," he said.'
