Children & Teens

THL: 10,000 girls and women in Finland have undergone FGM Finland’s public health watchdog THL says 3,000 girls risk undergoing the procedure, which involves removal of all or some of the external female genitalia.

(Yle) There are currently as many as 3,000 girls in Finland who face the risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation or FGM, according to an analysis released by the National Institute for Health and Welfare on Friday. The THL data […]

Children & Teens

Pennsylvania does not criminalize female genital mutilation Rep. Thomas Murt has a bill in the pipeline to criminalize anyone who participates in the genital mutilation of a minor

(York Daily Record) A recent federal court decision that held the federal ban against female genital mutilation is unconstitutional may put more pressure on Rep. Thomas P. Murt to get his bill outlawing the practice in Pennsylvania pushed through the general assembly. Pennsylvania is […]

Clothing

German state plans to ban religious symbols from courts The state government of Lower Saxony is drafting a law that would ban judges and prosecutors from wearing religious clothing or symbols. Germany's justice minister has welcomed the plans.

(Deutsche Welle) The government of Germany’s state of Lower Saxony plans to ban … judges and prosecutors from wearing religious symbols such as crosses or headscarves in the state’s courtrooms. Promoters of the measure say it is aimed at making clear that judges […]

Clothing

When your daughter suddenly becomes radicalized Children's life decisions are often difficult for parents to bear and even more difficult to understand — especially when the children radicalize themselves. DW met an affected German mother.

(Deutsche Welle) It’s something no mother would ever want to experience. The unexpected appearance of state security officers on your doorstep, to inform you that your daughter was planning to leave for Syria to allegedly join the terrorist militia “Islamic State.” But […]

Clothing

Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are the first Muslim women elected to Congress Tlaib, from Michigan, won earlier in the evening; Omar, from Minnesota, will be the first headscarf-wearing member of Congress.

(BuzzFeed) Even with the outcome expected, there was a sense of history-making when it became official Tuesday night: A Muslim woman was elected to Congress for the first time. Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib, 42, won her election after running unopposed by a […]

Crime

German lawmakers push for Syrian refugee deportations In the wake of a rape case involving Syrians in Germany, conservative lawmakers are demanding the government re-evaluate the security situation in Syria. Criminal refugees should be able to be deported, they say.

(Deutsche Welle) Who wants to deport refugees from Germany to Syria? The rape of a young woman in the southwestern city of Freiburg has reignited the debate over deporting criminal asylum-seekers. At least seven Syrian men and one German man are suspected […]

Books

Invisible and dangerous: The Salafist scene in North Rhine-Westphalia There are more Salafists in North Rhine-Westphalia than in any other German state. The scene has all but vanished from the public eye in its stronghold. But it is still very active, as DW is told by numerous sources.

(Deutsche Welle) “Speak after me,” the red-bearded German convert and Salafist preacher Pierre Vogel says as he publicly summons the young woman. Cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd in the pedestrian zone of the western city of Offenbach, she does exactly that, […]