In a statement picked up by The Standard the Spanish Supreme Court yesterday rejected the appeal that the woman referred to as “Binta S” and the man referred to as “T Sekou” had brought against the decision of a Barcelona court.
The Catalan court had stated that the couple who had been living in Spain for twenty years was guilty of perpetrating female genital mutilation as charged. “Clitoridectomy is not culture, it is mutilation and discrimination against women,” the court ruled.
Lawyers for the couple appealed the Barcelona court’s judgment claiming, among other reasons that the parents were not involved in the circumcision of their daughters.
However, the Supreme Court reiterated that although it could not determine the exact time the circumcision was carried out, but it was performed in Spain between July 2010 and January 2011 “if not by direct action of the parents, at least with their full knowledge and approval”.
The supreme court also stated that respect for the customs and traditions of other cultures “has limits where aberrant and unacceptable behaviours occur for our [Spanish] cultural environment.”
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