Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2013
10 Dec 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Human Rights
I got the numbers from the Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson, who said just a few weeks ago in the chamber that 3,000 women are at risk in Scotland, but the numbers could be higher as a result of the 2011 census, which has just been published.
These women and girls have had their clitoris cut out of their vagina. They have had their labia sliced off with a knife or a razor and have been sewn up like rag dolls, only to have been unsewn again for sex or childbirth. These women and little girls suffer from chronic psychological and physical pain and can be left infertile. On occasion, they simply bleed to death.
Female genital mutilation is a crime in Scotland. It has been banned since the 1980s and further measures were put in place when this Parliament passed an act in 2005 making it illegal in Scots law for a Scottish resident to be taken to a third country to have it done. Despite three decades of criminal law against this torture and despite there being so many women at risk, there has been not one conviction and not one prosecution—not even one police report has ever been filed on female genital mutilation in Scotland.
Last month, persistent work by a dedicated Scottish journalist reported that Scotland is seen as a soft touch for genital mutilation. Agencies are saying that girls are being brought to Scotland from England and Europe, because it is a safe place for this torture to be carried out—it will be neither detected nor prosecuted in this country.
It is mutilation and it is torture. We should challenge the patriarchal myth that it is female circumcision—it is not. Circumcision is a medical procedure with clear health benefits. There are no such advantages to genital mutilation.
Earlier this year I asked the Minister for Public Health how many women and girls are at risk of genital mutilation in Scotland. He responded by telling me that the number who are at risk is likely to be “significantly higher” than 3,000 with new population figures from the 2011 census. I hope that that answers Sandra White’s question. We simply do not know how much higher the figure is. The Scottish Government has not tried to scope the extent of this human rights abuse in Scotland, much less to challenge it. Why? It is because it involves little girls, their genitals, race and where they come from. It involves challenging a culture in which many women who have undergone FGM themselves still believe that it is an acceptable practice. As we stand here today on international human rights day and recommit to advancing the rights of every person in Scotland, I do not believe that our health professionals, our social services, our police and our charity workers can begin to undermine the practice of FGM while respecting those sensitivities.
These women and girls have had their clitoris cut out of their vagina. They have had their labia sliced off with a knife or a razor and have been sewn up like rag dolls, only to have been unsewn again for sex or childbirth. These women and little girls suffer from chronic psychological and physical pain and can be left infertile. On occasion, they simply bleed to death.
Female genital mutilation is a crime in Scotland. It has been banned since the 1980s and further measures were put in place when this Parliament passed an act in 2005 making it illegal in Scots law for a Scottish resident to be taken to a third country to have it done. Despite three decades of criminal law against this torture and despite there being so many women at risk, there has been not one conviction and not one prosecution—not even one police report has ever been filed on female genital mutilation in Scotland.
Last month, persistent work by a dedicated Scottish journalist reported that Scotland is seen as a soft touch for genital mutilation. Agencies are saying that girls are being brought to Scotland from England and Europe, because it is a safe place for this torture to be carried out—it will be neither detected nor prosecuted in this country.
It is mutilation and it is torture. We should challenge the patriarchal myth that it is female circumcision—it is not. Circumcision is a medical procedure with clear health benefits. There are no such advantages to genital mutilation.
Earlier this year I asked the Minister for Public Health how many women and girls are at risk of genital mutilation in Scotland. He responded by telling me that the number who are at risk is likely to be “significantly higher” than 3,000 with new population figures from the 2011 census. I hope that that answers Sandra White’s question. We simply do not know how much higher the figure is. The Scottish Government has not tried to scope the extent of this human rights abuse in Scotland, much less to challenge it. Why? It is because it involves little girls, their genitals, race and where they come from. It involves challenging a culture in which many women who have undergone FGM themselves still believe that it is an acceptable practice. As we stand here today on international human rights day and recommit to advancing the rights of every person in Scotland, I do not believe that our health professionals, our social services, our police and our charity workers can begin to undermine the practice of FGM while respecting those sensitivities.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-08544, in the name of Roseanna Cunningham, on human rights.14:38
The Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs (Roseanna Cunningham)
SNP
Today marks the launch of “Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights: 2013-2017”—Scotland’s first national action plan for human rights—and I am delig...
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I ask the minister for clarification on that point. Would an independent Scotland take the Human Rights Act 1998 and embed it in the Scottish constitution or...
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
We would be looking at exactly the kinds of rights that most countries in Europe and the wider world regard as human rights. I do not want to disappoint Jenn...
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
Would the minister care to commend Mary Robinson—who is a former President of a small country: Ireland—for her significant contribution to human rights in re...
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
I am sure that Stewart Stevenson would expect me to endorse that, as I have met Mary Robinson and know the huge impact that she had internationally—not just ...
Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
It is particularly appropriate that we gather in the chamber today on international human rights day, and on a day that is marked by such a momentous occasio...
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Jenny Marra for taking an intervention. I know of her interest in the subject. When I was a member of the Equal Opportunities Committee we inquired i...
Jenny Marra
Lab
I got the numbers from the Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson, who said just a few weeks ago in the chamber that 3,000 women are at risk in Scotlan...
Jean Urquhart (Highlands and Islands) (Ind)
Ind
I think that everybody will agree with what Jenny Marra said about the crime that she has described. However, forced marriages are still happening in Scotlan...
Jenny Marra
Lab
Presiding Officer, can I have a little more time to address that?
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I will tell you when you should stop.
Jenny Marra
Lab
Thank you.We have lodged our amendment because I do not believe that FGM is specifically mentioned in the human rights strategy and, given recent press repor...
Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I welcome the publication of the national action plan for human rights. There is certainly a strong element of consensus on the topic across the chamber and—...
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Ind)
Ind
About 15 years ago, the Northern Constabulary issued a book to young people about knowing your rights when dealing with the police. Is it not a positive thin...
Alex Johnstone
Con
It is, of course, positive that that sort of thing happens, but we must remember that we have to take the public along with us. If we concentrate merely on t...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
Conclude, please, Mr Johnstone.
Alex Johnstone
Con
As we come to the end of the opening speeches, I look forward to an in-depth discussion about the action plan, and to summing up at the end of the debate.15:03
Jamie Hepburn (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (SNP)
SNP
It is right to have the debate on this, the 65th anniversary of the signing of “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. As the minister said, it is appos...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab)
Lab
It is particularly important that we are debating Scotland’s first human rights action plan on international human rights day and the day on which we remembe...
Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD)
LD
I join colleagues in celebrating international human rights day and in welcoming the publication of Scotland’s national action plan on human rights. I pay tr...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I remind members to use full names when they are referring to colleagues.15:15
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Ind)
Ind
First, I congratulate the Scottish Human Rights Commission on the publication of its national action plan. It is significant that it had Scottish Government ...
Alex Johnstone
Con
It should be made clear that in what has been an interesting if short debate we will not have time to raise a number of points. Nevertheless, as John Finnie ...
Elaine Murray (Dumfriesshire) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to close for Scottish Labour in this short but important debate on Scotland’s national action plan for human rights and concur with members’ com...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Before I call Roseanna Cunningham to respond to the debate, I advise members that this afternoon’s debates are on a follow-on basis. I remind members who wis...
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
It is amazing how wide a variety of views can be encompassed even in a short debate such as this. Practically all the speeches have been constructive in addr...
Jenny Marra
Lab
Will the minister commit to voting tonight for a strategy on female genital mutilation?
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
I will come to the Labour amendment later in my speech.The Government has enjoyed a productive, constructive relationship with the commission on a wide range...
Malcolm Chisholm
Lab
I am very sorry to hear what the minister is saying. Does she understand that Jenny Marra’s addendum accepts all the wording of the minister’s motion, but th...