Amina Noor faces a maximum sentence of 14 years after becoming the first person convicted of assisting FGM outside the UK.
A British woman has been found guilty of taking a three-year-old girl to Kenya for female genital mutilation (FGM), in a landmark conviction at the Old Bailey in London.
Amina Noor, 39, from Harrow in northwest London, was convicted of assisting another person to carry out the procedure in 2006. The conviction carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. This marks the first time someone has been convicted of assisting in FGM under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
During the trial, the prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told the court that Noor travelled to Kenya with the girl and took her to a private house where she was subjected to FGM. The crime came to light years later when the girl, now 21 and who cannot be identified for legal reasons, confided in her English teacher at school.
The case was heard at the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey (Nick Ansell/PA) (PA Archive)
The senior crown prosecutor, Patricia Strobino, hailed Noor’s conviction, saying: “This kind of case will hopefully encourage potential victims and survivors of FGM to come forward, safe in the knowledge that they are supported, believed and also are able to speak their truth about what’s actually happened to them. It will also send a clear message to those prospective defendants or people that want to maintain this practice that it doesn’t matter whether they assist or practice or maintain this practice within the UK or overseas, they are likely to be prosecuted.”
During the trial, Noor claimed she was threatened with being “cursed” and “disowned” within her community if she did not participate. In her defense, she said she believed the procedure was just an injection and that the girl was “happy and able to run around and play” afterward. When examined in 2019, however, it emerged that the girl’s clitoris had been removed.
Amina Noor, 39, was giving evidence at her trial at the Old Bailey in London (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Archive)
Nimco Ali, an FGM survivor and co-founder of the Five Foundation, a global partnership to end FGM, welcomed the verdict. She said: “It is incredible that the mandatory reporting by teachers and healthcare professionals – that we have fought hard for – is starting to pay off. A girl was obviously failed. She was let down by the system but she got some form of justice today thanks to the policies that we now have in place.”
Research in 2014 estimated that 137,000 women and girls are affected by FGM in England and Wales. Ali called for urgent updates to these statistics.
Noor was granted conditional bail and is due to be sentenced on 20 December.
