Hansard

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in such an important debate, as we look ahead to 6 February as the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation.

FGM is a reprehensible and completely unacceptable, illegal practice that no child should have to suffer. It is easy to condemn, but it is less easy to eradicate. As has been mentioned, according to UNICEF, at least 200 million girls have been subjected to the practice of FGM across 30 countries, although the exact numbers remain unknown.

FGM is found in 28 African countries and in south-east Asia and the middle east. It is also found in Europe and elsewhere among communities originating from those parts of the world. Here, FGM is seen in some ethnic groups who have migrated to this country.

As the cabinet secretary said in opening, FGM is a complex, sensitive and often hidden issue for which there is no easy fix. It is rooted in what are, to many of us, alien and quite appalling traditions and, when it comes to engaging with FGM-practising communities, there are often language, as well as cultural, barriers to contend with. Thus, working towards its prevention and eradication demands working sensitively and with many different sectors. It also means working with and within the directly affected communities, as the only way to truly eradicate FGM is to eradicate the damaging attitudes and cultural traditions that underpin it.

I strongly welcome the national action plan that was published last year and its recognition of the scale of the challenges that are involved, as well as its realistic and robust objectives and its commitment to working with partners across the statutory and third sectors, from Police Scotland to Scottish Women’s Aid.

I also welcome the commitment to work with those directly involved. It is in communities that the problem exists, and that is where it must ultimately be solved. If FGM is to be eradicated in Scotland, long-term social, cultural and attitudinal change must be our goal. However wrong and appalling we find it, as long as FGM is accepted and considered to be important or necessary in some communities, it will be an issue.

The national action plan to tackle FGM is inextricable from the wider “Equally Safe” strategy on preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls. That is because FGM, at its most fundamental, is an extreme form of violence against girls and women and is rooted in gender inequality and discrimination. It is at the extreme end of a vast and varied spectrum of objectification of girls and women, which ultimately results in the abuse of their bodies.

While the horrors of FGM may be an alien practice to many of us here, it would be foolish to think that it is a problem for others. We are not immune to the discrimination against and objectification of women and girls in our culture, which are rooted in just the same gender inequality, damaging attitudes and cultural norms here. Far from it; the problem is endemic and manifests itself daily in our newspapers, on television, on the street, in the playground and even, as we saw recently, in the chambers of Parliament. It is everywhere, and on a scale that can feel pretty overwhelming.

Similarly, though the starting point is more extreme, the fundamental aims and objectives of the action plan to tackle FGM are the same as those of the “Equally Safe” strategy: a Scotland where women and girls live free from abuse and the attitudes that help to perpetuate it; where women and girls feel safe, respected and equal; where women are empowered and enjoy equality of opportunity, particularly with regard to resources; where positive gender roles are promoted; and where people understand what healthy and positive relationships are.

For that reason, we all have a role to play in tackling FGM, as we can and must all play our part in tackling the wider inequality that underpins it. Providing good services for victims and survivors is crucial, but we must also start recognising the context in which that violence takes place. A culture in which everyday sexism and the objectification of women are the norm is conducive to violence and must be challenged if we are to make a lasting difference to the lives of women and girls. We can start to make that difference here by all agreeing not to tolerate any objectification of women—in our own or any other culture.