Meeting of the Parliament 10 February 2016
Like John Finnie, I am a member of the Equal Opportunities Committee. I repeat his words that it has very much been a privilege to be involved in the debate and to see the progress that the Scottish Government is making and all that the third sector organisations are doing to tackle the problem. I, too, thank Margaret McCulloch for securing the debate. It is so important that we debate it here.
Of course, in February last year we debated a Scottish Government motion on the international day of zero tolerance to female genital mutilation. The motion in the name of Alex Neil, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights, asked the Parliament to note
“the Scottish Government’s commitment to fund a programme of work to tackle FGM in Scotland and protect those women and girls at risk of harm from this human rights abuse”.
I am delighted that the cabinet secretary launched the action plan last week. In my speech at last year’s debate, I said that we should not call this unacceptable and illegal practice by its abbreviation, FGM. At the time, I encouraged everyone to speak the term in full—female genital mutilation—because that says what it is. That is so important. I would like the minister to reflect on what we write and what we say in that regard.
Another point that I developed last year was the role of men in communities where female genital mutilation is a reality. I said that men must not be excluded from considerations but must be seen as part of the solution in ending that unacceptable and illegal practice.
I am delighted that, one year on, the fantastic work of the my voice project has really understood the role of men. Let me read from a flyer inviting people to participate in that project:
“Are you a man who is from a community or ethnic group potentially affected by Female Genital Mutilation or cutting ... or by female circumcision? Are you living in Scotland? We would love you to get involved in a new project we are starting called MY Voice.”
That project is very important. It has been set up with the support of the Scottish Government in collaboration with the Dignity Alert Research Forum, Roshni and the Institute for International Health and Development at Queen Margaret University. I encourage the minister to look at its research. I know that it is a bit late to ask, but I would love for the research to be published, but only after the election and not during purdah, to ensure that it gets all the coverage that it should get.
As I have said from the outset, it is crucial to work with men to develop services and support for communities that are affected by female genital mutilation. John Mason talked about the fantastic event that was organised by the Equal Opportunities Committee last week. A young man called Oyedepo Olalekun was truly inspirational. He told us how important the role of fathers, sons and husbands was, and he said that they often have no idea what is happening. Kenny Gibson said earlier that this practice occurs in patriarchal cultures. That may have been so at the start, but now the men are very much isolated from it. They do not realise that, in the modern-day world, it is happening to women. The action plan talks about including men, women and young people, but I would again encourage the minister to make sure that men are seen as key to the solution to the problem.
To conclude, I would like to make a historical point. Some of the contributions have said that this is a problem from other cultures and countries. Let me read from the Medical Times and Gazette:
“That the performance of clitoridectomy on a woman without her knowledge and consent ... is an offence against Medical ethics, needs not to be said. We suspect it is amenable to the criminal law of the land.”
That is from an article that was written in London in April 1867, denouncing a practice that was wrongly claimed to treat many conditions, including menstrual pains, bladder problems, epilepsy, insanity, spinal irritation, masturbation and even lesbianism.
It did not end there. In The American Journal of Clinical Medicine, half a century later, in June 1915, we can read that circumcision in the female is necessary and see the guidelines for performing it. We know that the practice survived in the United States for another 50 years and stopped only in the 1960s. White Christian women in America who are alive today have been mutilated in this way. Kenny Gibson says that he would not want his mother or wife to be involved with the practice, but maybe your grandmother was. Maybe your great-grandmother was.
It is something that we have to understand. We have to understand the past before we pass judgment on other cultures. Female genital mutilation has been a criminal offence in Scotland only since 1985. We should know our own history of female genital mutilation to better understand what is happening today.
Let boys and girls, men and women know about the reality and the horror of female genital mutilation, and let us eradicate it together.
17:44