Meeting of the Parliament 10 February 2016
I congratulate Margaret McCulloch on securing this debate on an issue that I have long been concerned about, as she pointed out in her speech. Indeed, nearly 15 years ago I lodged a motion condemning female genital mutilation and I am shocked and horrified that, as Margaret McCulloch said, it continues across the globe on such a vast scale.
FGM is clearly a fundamental violation of human rights. Along with the trauma and pain that it puts young women through, its lasting effects can include cysts, infertility, infections and increased risk of new-born deaths due to complications with childbirth. Additionally, in certain instances, the procedure has been known to cause death. When one considers that it is often inflicted on women by their closest relatives—people whom they have known and trusted all their lives—it is obvious that psychological problems and depression can also follow.
FGM is a sign of deep-rooted inequality between the sexes in the societies in which it is practised, and it is an example of great misogyny and discrimination against girls and women. FGM is often done in certain cultures to prevent women from having sex outside of marriage and to keep them pure for their husbands—which is a double standard, as similar practice is of course not expected from men who belong to such patriarchal societies. Police Scotland said:
“FGM is a social convention ... the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice.”
Since the practice is almost always carried out on girls, it is a violation of not only human rights but the rights of children. The violation that these girls and women are put through is a horror that we must vigorously oppose and educate against.
Scotland banned the practice of FGM in 1985 and it has created policies to stop the further spread of abuse among those minority communities in which it is commonplace in their own countries. Such abuse will result in the prosecution of anyone who performs the procedure or tries to coerce a young girl into having the procedure performed on them. For example, a father or grandfather can be tried in court for strongly encouraging a young girl to receive the procedure, even though he may not have performed it himself.
There must be zero tolerance of such practices. We cannot be seen to have any form of soft stance on this matter. The trauma that millions of girls and women all over the world have to endure is quite simply unimaginable. Having days such as the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation, which took place four days ago, allows Scotland and countries around the globe to unite in showing that we will not allow this abhorrent practice to continue.
Often, women or girls who have gone through this horrific torture feel too scared or ashamed to speak out about the terror that they have faced as they face pressure from within their cultural group to remain silent and often fear the stigma that could be attached to them by those who do not share their cultural identity. The international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation is therefore also a time to make it clear that the people who have been through such torture can find a safe place here in Scotland.
I applaud the efforts of various charities throughout Scotland to provide support and training for victims. For example, Rape Crisis Glasgow, which thanked the Scottish Government for providing assistance to survivors of FGM, has just this past week set up a group that already helps at least 10 women. Isabelle Kerr, the manager at Rape Crisis Glasgow, said:
“This is giving women the chance to come together and support each other, and has also given us the chance to work with the women on building confidence and self-esteem, on their health and wellbeing, and on managing the symptoms of their trauma.”
I echo Margaret McCulloch in hoping that we all live to see a world in which this extreme form of discrimination against women and girls is eradicated once and for all. I have a mother, a wife, a daughter and a sister, and I could not possibly imagine such horrors happening to any of them. I hope we will continue to have a Scotland where prevention, protection, services and support are provided to all victims of FGM.
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