I totally agree about the mutilations going on in the west that have somehow been made kosher. I heard a story about an 8 year old boy who was supposed to undergo gender reassignment surgery in some country in the West with full consent of his parents because he felt he was a girl inside a boy's body.
How you supposed to know anything about that sort of thing before you've even hit 10? What if he wakes up as a grown up and decides he was a kid and had no idea what he was talking about and wants to sue his parents for foolishly ruining his life when he was just going through a phase? Some things should be banned completely. Let the kid reach 18 and decide for themselves yawa, no way I would allow any unnecessary surgery on my kid as a solution for what really are psychological issues. If it is more than that, let the kid decide something so drastic as an adult...for himself.
As for FGM, being from a community that does it, I can tell you that it truly is an uphill battle, especially among women. Talk about indoctrination! Men don't seem all that concerned. If the wife/mother doesn't want to do it, it will not matter to the men that their daughter is not cut. I have come to the conclusion that only something radical can be done to stop it. For example,
1) A proper cariculum compulsorily taught in school from std 1 especially in those communities with widespread practice. It must explain in appropriate language to the kids that this is a bad thing and if someone does it to them or their friends, they should report to the teachers or nurse or chief etc who must be informed that they must hand the information over to the children's officer.
2) Some way of routinely inspecting children. Apprehend the parents/guardians of any kid found with mutilated organs. The problem is that this so invasive and may feel like abuse in itself, so while effective, it will cause too much hullabaloo.
3) Churches and mosques must begin to publicly shame practitioners the same way they do those who visit waganga. Just as with going to mganga, the moment the practice is firmly associated with being pagan and unchristian in the public psyche of these communities, most people will not be caught dead doing it.
4) Have those hospitals that try to reverse it in the country and make the services free for young girls.