Female Genital Mutilation
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-08729, in the name of Jenny Marra, on the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes that 6 February is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation; considers that female genital mutilation is a severe abuse of human rights, in which women and girls can have their clitoris and labia cut and their vagina sewn up; understands that there are 3,000 women and girls at risk from female genital mutilation in Scotland and that this number is due to rise according to new population estimates in the 2011 census; understands that there has not been one single police report, prosecution or conviction for female genital mutilation despite renewed legislation passed by the Parliament in 2005; notes the Scottish Government’s commitment to fund a scoping exercise to assess the scale of female genital mutilation across Scotland, and notes calls for this exercise to be comprehensive yet swift and to result in a further commitment for tangible action to tackle the human rights abuse of female genital mutilation in Scotland and protect those women and girls at risk of harm from what it considers this torture.
17:05
Tomorrow is international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation: a day when the world will take a stand against child torture, the heinous physical abuse of women and a practice that has no place in society yet unfortunately still affects far too many across the globe today. The World Health Organization estimates that between 120 million and 140 million women worldwide have been subject to female genital mutilation and that every year another 3 million girls become at risk of the procedure, which partially or wholly removes or injures their genitalia, for non-medical, mainly faith or tradition-based reasons.
I am glad that we have the opportunity today to add our opposition to that barbaric act in Scotland, because Scotland is by no means immune to it. The Scottish Government estimates that as many as 3,000 girls in Scotland are at risk from female genital mutilation, and that number is set to grow with the new census population estimates.
Let us be clear: even if only one girl in Scotland was at risk from that torture, we must surely acknowledge that the severity of the crime still warrants robust action. However, with 3,000 girls identified as possible targets of torture in our communities, it is absolutely astonishing that there have been no police reports filed with the Procurator Fiscal Service, no prosecutions and not one conviction for female genital mutilation in nearly 30 years of criminal law against it in this country.
I hear what Jenny Marra says, but the same is true for England and Wales, where the population is nearly 10 times that. I hope that she is not suggesting that there is something strange about the prosecution system in Scotland. The issue is very difficult to bring forward; I hope that the member accepts that the same is the case in England and Wales. It is a very sensitive issue.
I do not think that I made any comparison with the situation in England and Wales. I am talking about the jurisdiction that we represent in Scotland. Our criminal law has law against female genital mutilation. In 2005, this Parliament re-established that law and made FGM an extraterritorial crime also. I am just talking about the people whom we represent in this Parliament.
Female genital mutilation has been illegal across the United Kingdom and Scotland since 1985. It was criminalised again in Scotland by the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005. It would be remiss of us if the starting point in this debate was not to acknowledge that, despite the best will with which those acts were passed, our laws have failed to protect thousands of children at risk of torture in Scotland. That is because even the best laws in the world become but lines on paper if they are not respected, enforced and given the resource to be effective.
The Equal Opportunities Committee’s inquiry into FGM, which is taking place now, has shown that much of what we know about FGM in Scotland is based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence. We have two ways of looking at FGM. First, we can say that because we know so little, it is unlikely that FGM is a serious problem. Secondly, we can take the view that, yes, we know little, but we will not risk the lives and long-term health of children and women in the hope that FGM is not as widespread as the numbers of those who are at risk would have us believe.
We can and must do better for those who have undergone FGM in Scotland, even if that means engaging with what the minister has described as the very sensitive issues of culture, race and the bodies of young girls.
I am very interested in what Jenny Marra has said, but she will have to forgive me if I show my ignorance in asking this question—I just do not know the answer to it. How many complaints about this practice have been made to the police? If we knew that, it would help me to understand the scale of the problem that we face in the justice system.
Bruce Crawford asks a good question. I have lodged several parliamentary questions about the amount of information that the police have on this matter. Not one police report has been filed with the procurator fiscal. It is my understanding that the police work with communities on this but my point is that more needs to be done; indeed, the purpose of this debate is to see what more can be done. We know that 3,000 women—and with the new census figures, possibly more—are at risk in Scotland, and this child torture in our communities continues to happen. For that reason, we must do more.
We must work with communities that we know are engaged with FGM to challenge the deeply ingrained perception that it is okay to mutilate children in the name of faith or tradition. Although it is important to do that through partnership working, education and building trust, it cannot also mean maintaining our woeful record of enforcing the law in this area—a law that I repeat is against child torture in Scotland.
Our public health, immigration and social services must work together better in partnership to provide services for FGM survivors. After all, unless we build an environment where women and girls feel safe in coming forward and unless we create a viable alternative to undergoing the procedure in the first place, we will never be able to start identifying and reducing the risk.
The Scottish Government must lead the way in co-ordinating Scotland’s approach and response to FGM. Without leadership, direction and a continuing focus on resources for tackling the problem, we will not be able to turn the trend of growing risk around for the better. Although I warmly welcome the Government’s funding for a scoping exercise on the extent of FGM in Scotland as an important first step on the road to bettering our approach, that exercise must be the beginning not the end of our efforts. As a result, I ask the Scottish Government to present the exercise’s findings to Parliament this spring along with an action plan for tackling FGM and details of the resources that will be dedicated to it. The size and scale of the challenge of FGM is such that we must keep it in constant focus. By committing to that action plan before Parliament tonight, the Government can acknowledge its role in leading that cause that and action.
There is no role for torture in Scotland’s communities—and that is exactly what FGM is. It is child torture in our communities, and there is simply no role for child abuse. Our laws have failed these children and we must now rededicate ourselves to making them work. I hope that tonight the Government will commit to taking the action that I have suggested and that when we return to this chamber on next year’s international day of zero tolerance for FGM we have a more successful story to tell.
A number of members wish to speak in the debate and I hope to get everyone in. I therefore ask for four-minute speeches.
17:13
I congratulate Jenny Marra on securing the debate and on her opening speech.
Female genital mutilation is abhorrent. More than 12 years ago, on 10 December 2001, I lodged a parliamentary motion condemning the practice and I find it shocking that it continues to be such a huge issue.
Many cultures in Africa, Asia, South America and the middle east condone and encourage the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia and other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons, supposedly to preserve a young woman’s purity in their society. The procedure is often carried out without anaesthesia, sterile tools or medication to help the child heal. Parents force their daughters to have their genitals mutilated when they are as young as only a few weeks old to improve the likelihood of a favourable marriage and to enhance the family’s prosperity and status.
Those cultures believe that the practice will prevent their young women from having sex outside marriage and keep them pure for their future husband. Of course, in patriarchal societies, there is no such imposition on men. The horrible tradition is enforced and perpetuated by women who see the ritual as an essential part of becoming a woman and a legitimate member of the community.
Leaders of different faiths have rejected FGM, although some communities believe that it is done for religious reasons. In Niger, 55 per cent of Christian girls and women have undergone the practice, compared with only 2 per cent of Muslim girls and women. In Togo, 21 per cent of Muslim girls and women have undergone FGM, compared with only 1 per cent of Christian girls and women. That shows how the practice differs even within religious groups and that it is not as faith based as might be assumed.
Although those cultures see the practice as an essential part of a woman’s life, female genital mutilation is an inhumane and repressive practice that is done to young females to suppress their sexuality and control their bodies. The cruel practice of FGM can cause many adverse health problems for the victim throughout her lifetime. When the procedure is first performed, the girl is at high risk of having severe pain, shock, bleeding, bacterial infection, injury to nearby tissue and psychological damage that is comparable to post-traumatic stress disorder. In the long term, girls and women who suffered the procedure often suffer recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts, infertility and complications during intercourse and childbirth. Forced female circumcision is a human rights violation, child abuse, torture and demeaning to the female population.
Even in 19th century Britain and America, funnily enough—it is not funny in an amusing sense; I should say “strangely”—FGM was considered a cure for women with a variety of clinical diagnoses. Again, that was in an era in which women’s sexuality was often severely suppressed.
The ritual may still be practised by minority ethnic groups that have immigrated to Scotland and have the cultural pressure to uphold the tradition. However, as Jenny Marra pointed out, two acts have outlawed the practice. The Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005 furthered provisions to make it illegal, following the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985, and ensured that the practice could result in a prison term of five to 14 years. Not one case has been brought, of course, although I understand that 10 have officially been reported.
Many woman and children who have undergone painful mutilation may be too frightened or ashamed to speak out about the harm that has been done to them, as they face pressure from within their cultural group to remain silent and fear the stigma that could be placed on them by those who do not share their cultural identity.
Tomorrow is the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation. People in Scotland and countries around the world will gather to show that they will not stand idly by and permit the horrible practice to continue. Advocacy groups have attempted to eliminate the inhumane practice over the past four decades and they continue to work, often in very difficult conditions.
Our country cannot be seen to have a soft stance on female circumcision. It is, of course, alleged that it takes place here, although we want to hear more evidence that it does. It is a form of racism to stand by and let it happen to people from ethnic minorities when we would not tolerate it in other groups. Everyone’s individual rights and freedoms should be equally protected, and more needs to be done to stop people subjecting their daughters, granddaughters and nieces to that horrible and scarring torture.
I had more to say, but I realise that other members wish to speak, so I will conclude there.
17:18
I, too, commend Jenny Marra for securing this debate to mark the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation.
It came as something of a shock to me to learn, nearly 30 years after the 1985 Conservative Westminster Government outlawed the practice of female circumcision, as it was euphemistically called then, and nine years after the Scottish Parliament legislated against FGM, that there has not been a single police report, prosecution or conviction for that brutal assault on young women and girls from certain ethnic communities.
I was a member of the Equal Opportunities Committee that took evidence at stage 1 of the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Bill in 2005. I remember the witnesses’ harrowing accounts of the agonising procedures, often performed without anaesthetic and using dirty, makeshift and shared instruments, that are endured by the victims of FGM. As Kenneth Gibson said, those girls and young women can suffer from serious immediate health consequences, such as severe shock, pain and bleeding, which may be fatal, and they often get urine retention and localised infection. Long-term obstetric and gynaecological problems, urinary tract infections and incontinence can cause severe suffering, and the psychological consequences of FGM can ruin the lives of many victims.
Sadly, FGM is a deep-seated cultural practice in several African countries and in the middle east and Asia. Its increasing appearance in the western world is usually in immigrant and refugee populations. In that respect, as we have heard, 3,000 women and girls are at risk in Scotland today, and that number is likely to rise.
FGM is not a requirement of any religion but rather is seen as a rite of passage to womanhood and a requirement for marriageability. Hard though it is for us to believe, it is often done at the hands of the older women in a community who have themselves undergone FGM. To them, it is a necessary ritual; an act of love to ensure the best future for their daughters and granddaughters. It is difficult to run it to ground, because the practice is kept very private within communities and, because relatives are often involved, statistics are hard to come by.
As I said in 2005 at stage 3 of the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Bill, it will probably take generations to eradicate the practice and it will require education reinforced by law to overcome such an entrenched custom. I felt at the time that, although the new law was unlikely to lead to many prosecutions, it should serve to raise awareness within the communities affected and that, if coupled with education within those communities and the work of health, education and social work professionals, it would become more widely recognised.
To hear that nine years later we are no further on is really quite depressing, so I am pleased to learn that the Scottish Government is now committed, with the Scottish Refugee Council, to trying to assess the actual scale of FGM across Scotland. The violation of a significant, if small, section of our society should not be tolerated. Urgent action needs to be taken to protect those vulnerable people from the barbaric customs, endemic in their communities, that are a serious abuse of their human rights. Indeed, FGM should not be tolerated anywhere in the world in the 21st century and its eradication must be tackled on an international scale.
A country like Scotland must not simply pay lip service to the international day of zero tolerance for FGM. We must make serious efforts to find the perpetrators of this brutal practice and to enforce the 2005 act so that the relatively small number of very vulnerable people in some of Scotland’s ethnic communities who are at risk of female genital mutilation can receive the legal protection that they deserve as our fellow citizens.
I thank Jenny Marra for alerting us to the lack of progress to date on eliminating this awful practice and for her sustained efforts to help its victims and those who are currently at risk of being made to endure the severe personal traumas of FGM.
17:22
I congratulate Jenny Marra on lodging her important motion and I commend the passionate and empathetic way in which she has championed this and other causes.
Female genital mutilation is an appalling human rights abuse that we must do everything that we can to completely eradicate. I believe that we must approach it with the right kind of cultural sensitivity—not the kind that turns a blind eye to human rights abuses and becomes a kind of racism, as Kenny Gibson said, when taken to extremes. I am a great admirer of multiculturalism in general, but human rights always trump multiculturalism and we cannot make an exception for any groups of people.
The kind of cultural sensitivity that I have in mind is, first, a recognition that the problem of FGM exists to a significant extent in certain communities and, secondly, a recognition that effective action comes from working on the front line with the communities affected in ways that have a chance of being effective. We must therefore support organisations doing front-line work. I certainly know of one organisation that has been doing such work. I hope that the Government will continue to give it and any other front-line organisations the support that they need. It is only by doing that front-line work that it is possible to uncover the extent of this crime, because it is a crime that in many cases is hidden. However, we must believe the estimates that have been made on the basis of the census, which lead to the conclusion that there are 3,000 to 4,000 girls at risk in Scotland at present.
Does the member acknowledge that key to dealing with the problem is using the correct terminology? In a lot of communities in which FGM takes place the words “female genital mutilation” mean nothing, because the communities use euphemisms. For instance, I understand that one of them refers to a child being taken to a party. It is key to communicate in people’s own language, in every respect.
I entirely agree with that. In a way, that is a good example of the positive cultural sensitivity that I have in mind. It is important that people who work on the front line understand how they can work effectively with people in the communities that are affected and how they can gain their confidence and possibly make progress.
Mainstream services are also crucial, and they need to link up with each other as well as with the front-line organisations that I mentioned. The health service is clearly crucial. I am told that women survivors are not getting the healthcare that they need and, in many cases, they are not identified at all. Health professionals in general need training so that they can ask the required questions and give examinations when that is appropriate. Midwives are particularly important, so I am glad that the minister mentioned the Royal College of Midwives in recent announcements on the matter. It has a report about identifying, recording and reporting the issue, and I know that Gillian Smith of the RCM is doing some work on that at present. That is clearly important.
Passing on information is also an important part of the work, as this is a child protection issue and those who are at risk must be regarded as such. I noticed that Chief Superintendent Gill Imery said recently that all children of FGM survivors should be on the child protection register. I do not know whether there could be exceptions where people are confident that the children are not at risk, but we should listen seriously to what she is saying. The police in general are clearly important in this regard. Other agencies must work closely with them, and when information is passed on to the police they must be prepared to take serious action.
The minister mentioned England. There was an interesting report about England in The Times on Friday, and one issue that was mentioned was that there is to be an investigation of the police in England to see whether they are doing everything that is required. The other big issue in the English context that was highlighted in that article was the failure of schools to play a role as well. All the agencies are important. The scoping exercise is a good start, but only if it leads to action, so I support Jenny Marra’s call for an action programme following that piece of work.
17:27
I, too, congratulate Jenny Marra on securing this important debate. On the eve of the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation, which is sponsored by the United Nations, I add my voice to those who are calling for an end to this most brutal abuse of girls and women.
FGM is recognised internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and it constitutes an extreme and brutal form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of children’s rights. The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and indeed the right to life when the procedure results in death.
According to UNICEF, more than 125 million women worldwide are living with the consequences of FGM. They are concentrated in countries across western, central and eastern Africa, but FGM is also practised in communities in the middle east, Asia and the Americas and in diaspora communities all over the world.
FGM is usually performed on children. In 50 per cent of practising countries, girls undergo FGM before the age of five. As others have said, it is generally carried out by unskilled practitioners who use unsterilised instruments and no anaesthetic, risking potentially lethal infection. Other consequences include severe pain during urination, menstruation, sexual intercourse and childbirth and, of course, psychological trauma.
This systematic violation of women’s rights has for too long been a taboo subject, but throughout the world calls for an end to FGM are gaining strength. In 2012, under the leadership of the African group and with strong European Union support, the general assembly of the United Nations adopted a landmark resolution. In March 2013, my Liberal Democrat colleague Lynne Featherstone, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development, announced the biggest ever international investment—£35 million—in eradicating the practice. In November last year, the European Commission released an action plan on ending female genital mutilation.
There is growing momentum for change, but we must take action here in Scotland, too. As others have said, the Scottish Government has estimated that at least 3,000 women and girls are at risk here. That is based on a pro rata estimate. Nevertheless, that working estimate exposes a lamentable and much-neglected child protection issue for Scotland to tackle.
As other members have said, FGM has been a specific criminal offence in the UK since 1985, yet there has not been a single prosecution. A recent BBC programme revealed that the majority of health boards cannot say how many cases they have encountered, less than a third of our councils have local guidelines on FGM, and the police have had no referrals from health boards. How can that be?
According to 17-year-old Fahma Mohamed from Bristol, who is leading The Guardian’s campaign to end FGM, that is because
“People just don’t talk about it, doctors don’t check for it and teachers don’t teach it”.
She is campaigning for our schools to do more. She says:
“We need to act now. Many girls are sent away to be cut over the summer holidays. Some are cut at home. They call it the ‘cutting season’. If every headteacher was given the information they need to talk about FGM to students and parents we could reach every girl who is at risk before the holidays. We could convince families not to send their daughters to be cut and we can help girls who are at risk. We could break the cycle so the next generation is safe.”
She is right. The legal framework and enforcement are important, but they are not sufficient to end FGM—changes in attitudes and beliefs in the affected communities will be key.
Most survivors of FGM need help to cope with the short and long-term consequences of the procedure. Giving them adequate support would help to raise their awareness of the damaging health consequences of the practice.
Some countries, such as Belgium, France and Italy, have set up health centres that specialise in the care of victims. Health professionals are best placed to lead on identification, prevention and treatment, but we should draw together many partners in education, social services, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the police, as well as in minority ethnic women’s organisations that are working to raise awareness, such as Saheliya, the Dignity Alert and Research Forum, Shakti Women’s Aid and the Scottish Refugee Council.
Jenny Marra rose—
Do I have time to take an intervention, Presiding Officer?
I ask Jenny Marra to be brief.
Does Alison McInnes agree that it might be an idea for the Scottish Government to send information packs to every headteacher in the country to outline the risks and the times of year that she referred to, so that schools have that information?
I certainly hope that the minister will reflect on and learn from that idea.
The Scottish Government must show leadership by ensuring that it empowers and resources the robust and sustained multidisciplinary response that is required to end the risk for children who are living in Scotland. Girls and women in Scotland and around the world have the right to control over their own bodies and the right to live a life that is free from the fear of violence.
17:32
I thank Jenny Marra for bringing this important debate to the chamber. The cause is worthy.
The international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation is an important marking point. The minister took an auto-defence approach, but I make it clear that we do not blame her personally. What we say is meant not as criticism but as comments on how to go forward. I hope that she accepts what is said in that spirit.
In 2013, UNICEF established that more than 125 million women and girls from 29 countries worldwide have been affected by female genital mutilation. The origin of the practices is unclear, but it is clear that they have been undertaken for thousands of years and that they will not disappear overnight.
The point of having an international day of zero tolerance for FGM is to take a strong approach and share the information that we have. We will learn from that and tackle the problem in Africa, Asia and Europe—including the United Kingdom—and in other parts of the world.
A constituent brought FGM to my attention when I became an MSP. I was horrified and disturbed, to be frank, when I began to read about it. I come from a culture in which I saw circumcision and various other mutilations that happen as a child, but I was particularly disturbed by FGM and by the fact that it is happening to very young girls. They have no choice and not only are they scarred for life but they might develop health complications, which they cannot do anything about, because the procedures are irreversible.
I therefore feel very strongly about the issue, and I have discussed it with many people. I have picked up clearly that the issue is kept very close in the community and that a lot of pressure is applied to young people, who are told that FGM is a must for them and they should not talk about it because people will not understand. Various excuses are used. The young girls are told that they will be unclean and not pure if they do not go through the process. They are almost made to feel that it is something to be proud of and they must have it done.
That is a ridiculous attitude, but people have practised FGM for so long that they believe that what they are doing is right. That is why it is important that we have stiff sentences for people who put our young through such an experience—and they are our young; there are young Scots who live here and who have to go through the experience.
I spoke to a doctor from Kurdistan, who actively campaigns on the issue. He told me that he had been surprised to find that FGM is widespread in Iraq and in particular in Kurdistan. He said that the Government there has taken robust steps to deal with the issue, through public information and conferences and by talking about the matter on television. Most important, the Government has sent out the right signal by outlawing the practice. That was a brave step for the country to take.
Although we are part of the way there, in that we have already legislated, it is unfortunate that we have not grasped how to penetrate communities and protect people. I have heard some good ideas about sharing information in schools and setting up a task force to deal with the issue more robustly, and I hope that by next year we will have had some success—I am not holding the minister responsible today, as I said, but I will certainly do so in a year’s time if there has been no success.
It is important that we send out the right signal and tell our young that the Government cares for them and will take all necessary measures to ensure their health, safety and quality of life. That is paramount. I agree with all the sentiments that members have expressed in the debate.
17:37
“Circumcision”, “growing up” and “cleansing” are euphemisms for female genital mutilation that are in common use, as the Equal Opportunities Committee heard when we held a round-table discussion on the subject a week ago. However, those were not the worst euphemisms that we heard. As John Finnie said, some children are told that they are “going to a party”. The spectre of a child being told by their family that they are going on holiday, to visit their relatives or to attend a celebration, only to be made to undergo a violation of themselves and their bodies, in their earliest and most vulnerable years, was the most disturbing thing for me.
The committee’s round table included representatives of a great range of organisations that are active on the issue, including Fatou Baldeh—I hope that I pronounced her name correctly—who is herself a survivor. We touched on many issues, one of which is data. How do we work out how many procedures have taken place, when the data are drawn from census projections of the number of people in the so-called at-risk communities? We hear reports, and one person’s anecdotal evidence is another person’s qualitative evidence.
It was put to us that it seems strange that no one has presented to a general practitioner, although there are so many families from at-risk communities. However, is that any wonder? If a child were to report having undergone FGM, they would have to criminalise their parents. Family members might be prosecuted. The relationships in families—including the power relationships—are clearly strong, not to mention the relationships in communities, which put pressure on families.
As John Finnie said, it was pointed out that we must be careful about the terms that we use. “Female genital mutilation” is not a term that is in common use. A person who was asked by a health worker whether they had undergone FGM might well not recognise the term and say no.
The overwhelming view from the meeting was that action to tackle FGM must be sensitive. We must not be tolerant, permissive or lax, but we must show the positive sensitivity that Malcolm Chisholm described so well. Mukami McCrum, from the Kenyan Women in Scotland Association, suggested that if people who are sensitive to negative portrayals of their community in debates and the media regard action as a broad attack on the community, they will withdraw from the debate and the problem will become even more hidden.
Amnesty International has campaigned for a Europe-wide approach to FGM and has stated:
“The debate in the UK about more prosecutions misses the point. Legal repression, although it may have its place, is not the best answer.
We need to work ... with the communities where this happens to try to change attitudes, not to drive the problem further underground ... We should consider the best interests of the children before we rush to send their parents to prison.”
There is experience of dealing with the issue in other European countries. France has a very aggressive programme of screening which, it was pointed out to us, would only retraumatise those who had been through the experience and would subject many innocent people to an invasive examination. We have heard parallels drawn with the issue of whether there needs to be similarly aggressive screening for sexual abuse, the rates of which are, unfortunately, much higher according to all our estimates.
We did hear some good news, however. Mukami McCrum told us about action that has been taken in Kenya that has reduced the incidence of FGM from 90 to 25 per cent. That is still 25 per cent too much, but it is progress. Burkina Faso has done likewise.
Anela Anwar from Roshni said:
“we need to put a lot of sustainable effort into community engagement programmes. Without engaging communities—men, women and girls—on it and empowering young girls and women to make their own choices while staying safe, we will not get anywhere.”—[Official Report, Equal Opportunities Committee, 30 January 2014; c 1782.]
That is also the view of the Scottish Refugee Council, as expressed at the committee and to members today. We cannot tackle FGM without female empowerment. We must also provide healthcare training to ensure that there is a sensitivity out there and that people can see the warning signs both in healthcare and in schooling.
I have read some apologies for FGM from anthropologists and others, and they disgust me as much as the practice itself. FGM is gender-based violence. It is child abuse, it is grotesque and it must end.
17:41
I welcome today’s debate on the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation—an important day that will be recognised tomorrow. I am grateful to Jenny Marra for securing the debate, in which we can take a stand against this brutal and wholly unacceptable tradition.
Last Thursday, the Equal Opportunities Committee held a very informative evidence session with organisations and experts on FGM in Scotland, including the Dignity Alert and Research Forum, Roshni, the Scottish Refugee Council, the Kenyan Women in Scotland Association, NSPCC Scotland, the Women’s Support Project, Rape Crisis Glasgow and Dr Oonagh O’Brien of Queen Margaret University. We considered a future inquiry into FGM in Scotland and, during the short time that I have today, I will convey to the chamber some of the ideas that we heard.
First, with international zero tolerance day in mind, I stress that FGM is a global issue. Tackling FGM is as much about an international response, led by the UN and the WHO, as it is about the response of the Scottish Government and local communities here in Scotland. The WHO estimates that between 120 million and 140 million girls and women are living with the consequences of FGM worldwide, and the European Parliament estimates that 500,000 girls and women have experienced FGM in Europe. As my colleague Jenny Marra said, in Scotland 3,000 women and girls are estimated to be at risk.
FGM is most prevalent in parts of Africa, Asia and the middle east, but movement across borders means that women and girls who were born here but who have family connections with those regions can be just as much at risk as women or girls who were born there. When the committee took evidence, I was surprised at the effectiveness of an initiative that has been introduced down in England, where women and young girls in such circumstances are given a passport that confirms that FGM has not been carried out on them. When women go abroad with their daughters to visit their families, they can show the passports to their families and say, “Look. This is a legal document. If we go back and my daughter has had this done, I will go to jail and I will not have money to send to you.” That seems to be a very effective deterrent that the minister can perhaps investigate. It is simple and seems to be really effective.
If we as policy makers are to banish FGM to history, we need to understand why practising communities sustain traditions that are so unacceptable, and how we discuss FGM is important. The practice must not be tolerated but, equally, we must be conscious of how we engage with minority communities on the sensitive issues of culture, race and the bodies of young girls.
Standing up to FGM in Scotland is about much more than what is on the statute book. We have to build capacity to engage with practising communities and to raise awareness among those who work with, but who may not belong to, practising communities. We need to support engagement with practising communities to educate people about the realities of FGM and the law in Scotland, and to tackle the pressures that many women in practising communities face. In addition, we must ensure that we work with organisations such as DARF to develop and share good practice so that we train healthcare and social work professionals to identify those who are at risk and to support those who have been mutilated.
However, let us be clear: as one of our witnesses said to the committee, if persuasion and prevention do not work, the only option left is prosecution. FGM is unacceptable in a fair and equal Scotland. It is an abuse of human rights, and it must not be tolerated.
17:46
I thank Jenny Marra for lodging the motion, and I thank all the members who have participated in tonight’s debate, which recognises that tomorrow marks international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation.
Such debates, along with internationally recognised days to mark zero tolerance of FGM, are extremely valuable in raising awareness of what is, as many members have said, a global issue, but we must recognise that the people who are victims of the practice, or who are at risk of becoming victims of it, are affected every day, either by living in fear of FGM being perpetrated on them, or by living with the horrifying implications of what has already been done to them.
As other members have said, FGM is a child protection issue; it is a form of child abuse, because children are not in a position to make a choice. FGM is a brutal practice that is forced on them. It blights the lives of those who are affected by it and, as the motion suggests, it is an abuse of the human rights of women and girls. From what has been said in the debate, it is clear that we all agree that FGM is a practice that has no place in a modern multicultural Scotland.
As I said in the debate on violence against women on 17 December last year, Scotland’s strategy to tackle violence against women will address FGM. The strategy, which will be the first of its kind in Scotland and will reflect the spectrum of violence that is defined as violence against women, will be published in the summer, following consultation early this year. Our child protection guidelines, which are used by all children-related services, is a second key document for tackling FGM, and includes a section on it.
We know from data from the 2001 census that there were nearly 3,000 women between the ages of zero and 49 living in Scotland who had been born in FGM-practising countries. Of course, that does not mean that all those women have been abused in that way—it means only that they may be at risk. That is why it is vital that we ensure that we understand what the available statistics tell us.
In her evidence to the Equal Opportunities Committee, Nina Murray from the Scottish Refugee Council said:
“Prevalence may be very high in a country, but certain groups in that country might not be practising. FGM practice tends to be located in particular ethnic groups or communities.”—[Official Report, Equal Opportunities Committee, 30 January 2014; c 1779.]
We accept that statistics alone tell us only so much and that we need to ensure that our understanding goes beyond just numbers.
That is why I was pleased to announce in December’s debate on violence against women that the Scottish Government is providing funding to the Scottish Refugee Council and the Women’s Support Project to carry out a project that will produce a baseline of information to inform the work to tackle FGM. The project, which is scheduled to be completed by autumn this year, will culminate in publication of a report that will outline and refine the available data, identify gaps in information, and make recommendations on ways forward with community and statutory partners. We will look closely at all the findings and recommendations from that report, which I will be happy to share with Parliament, as we establish what action we require to take at that stage, but I think that we should at the moment allow the project to get on with its work and come up with recommendations.
In Scotland, female genital mutilation is punishable by up to 14 years’ imprisonment. We acknowledge that there have been no prosecutions for female genital mutilation. However, as I said earlier, that is also the case in England and Wales, which tells us that FGM is a very complex issue. I was struck by what Marco Biagi said—it is not just about prosecution. Although we would all like to see people being held to account for their actions, given the family dynamics that are involved, the issue is much more complex than being just about prosecution. It is therefore wrong to suggest that Scotland is in any way a soft touch for FGM—there is no evidence for that. Nonetheless, we want action to ensure that girls are protected.
Will the minister consider the proposal to send information packs to headteachers throughout Scotland, as a public health initiative, giving information on the times of year when girls are most at risk?
We have set up a project that will make recommendations. It includes the appropriate expertise and will consult about what should be done. We should allow it to come back and tell us what it thinks should happen. Clearly, if that is one of its recommendations we will consider it. There is no point in setting up a project to make recommendations, but not to listen to them. As I said, the work by the Scottish Refugee Council and the Women’s Support Project will be very valuable in providing us with much more accurate evidence-based estimates of prevalence and risk in Scotland.
We know that FGM is a difficult and sensitive issue. There are a number of possible reasons why victims may feel unable or unwilling to report FGM to the police or other authorities. We therefore need to ensure that what we are doing meets the needs of those who might be affected, or who may be at risk.
We do not underestimate how difficult it is for someone from a practising community to come forward. If it was easy, people would have come forward and there would have been prosecutions. The fact that there have been no prosecutions tells us how difficult it is. That makes our work to raise awareness among communities, to bring about attitudinal change, and to encourage reporting of FGM by women, girls and men all the more important.
Training is hugely important in raising awareness and addressing complex issues. As part of our work, we are in discussion with the Women’s Support Project to develop a range of information and training materials on FGM. Again, I would be happy to share those with Parliament.
We recognise that while legislation, prevalence data, information and awareness raising rightly inform parts of our strategy to tackle FGM, we must continue to look at the expertise of people such as midwives and other health professionals including doctors, nurses and health visitors, who can often play a crucial role in identifying girls who are at risk, in recording incidents and in offering support and onward referral to women. That is why we have initiated discussions with the director of the Royal College of Midwives in Scotland to discuss the recommendations in the report “Tackling FGM in the UK—Intercollegiate recommendations for identifying, recording and reporting”. Reports such as that provide a valuable source of expertise in helping us to ensure effective multi-agency collaboration.
It is not only health professionals who have a role to play; it has been mentioned that the involvement of teachers, social workers and police officers is also vital. As has been said, on 30 January the Equal Opportunities Committee met stakeholders who are experts in tackling the issues that surround FGM, in order to inform the remit of a potential inquiry into FGM. I very much welcome that and would like to see whether we can align the Scottish Government work with the committee inquiry, under the convenership of Margaret McCulloch. I hope that together we can produce good recommendations for action to effect change.
All that I have outlined is intended to strengthen our response to FGM and to complement measures that are already in place. Those measures include engaging with people from affected communities; working closely with police, health professionals, social work and education to share good practice and promote awareness of the prevention of FGM; and funding voluntary organisations that provide support to victims of FGM. We will also consider imaginative solutions like Margaret McCulloch’s suggestion about passports. I will look into that in more detail.
I want to acknowledge the work that is being done each and every day by those who strive to eradicate FGM—be it by raising awareness, by supporting victims or by working to inform our response to a horrific practice. It is important to state that only by listening to the experts, the communities and the people who have been affected can we really get in under the radar to tackle a very difficult issue that concerns something that is conducted in private and about which, as has been said, it is difficult to get people to talk.
However, there is more that we can do, so we will consider some of the suggestions that have been made tonight. I will be happy to report back to Parliament once we have done the work on that.
Meeting closed at 17:55.