Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 02 December 2025
02 Dec 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Topical Question Time
Female Genital Mutilation
It is very concerning that the legislation that was passed by the Parliament five years ago to give women and girls extra protection from genital mutilation remains unimplemented. That failure has directly impacted women and girls in Scotland, including the more than 1,200 who have been treated for genital mutilation in Glasgow over the past five years. Will the minister commit to meeting members from all the front benches, to discuss how we can ensure that the legislation’s implementation happens before the parliamentary session ends? Will she also accept that, if that is the timetable, it is completely unacceptable?
In the same item of business
1. Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that over 1,200 women have been treated for female genital mutilation in Glasgow in the past f...
The Minister for Equalities (Kaukab Stewart)
SNP
Female genital mutilation—FGM—is an abhorrent practice and it has been illegal in Scotland since 1985. The figure stated in The Herald does not represent the...
Annie Wells
Con
This Parliament unanimously passed the 2020 act five years ago, and I am dismayed that, five years on, it is still not in force and that these are the result...
Kaukab Stewart
SNP
I thank Annie Wells for that important question and for giving me the opportunity to reiterate my concern and agreement that we are talking about women and g...
Annie Wells
Con
The Scottish Government has had five years in which to implement the act, so I am afraid that that is not good enough. On the day of the vote on the bill, th...
Kaukab Stewart
SNP
The act will allow courts to impose new FGM protection orders to safeguard individuals. As of November 2025, the protection orders are now sitting with the c...
Audrey Nicoll (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
I agree with Annie Wells that female genital mutilation is a completely barbaric practice. I welcome the Scottish Government’s continued work to understand t...
Kaukab Stewart
SNP
I join my colleagues on the Government benches in stressing that the Government is resolute in its commitment to implementing the 2020 act. As I said, it req...
Katy Clark (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
It is very concerning that the legislation that was passed by the Parliament five years ago to give women and girls extra protection from genital mutilation ...
Kaukab Stewart
SNP
I am happy to meet any members who are interested in pursuing the issue at their convenience.
Sharon Dowey (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
The figures from Glasgow alone are shocking—1,247 women were treated for FGM in just five and a half years, and there have been 57 deinfibulation surgeries, ...
Kaukab Stewart
SNP
I am afraid that I do not have those figures to hand, but I will take the opportunity to reiterate that the article in The Herald misleadingly suggests that ...