FGC Debate in Parliament 4/12/13

Thursday 05 December 2013

We were delighted to see a debate held in parliament yesterday concerning FGC which covered a range of issues, from the need for a joined up preventative approach in the UK to the need for a change at the grassroots level.

The question, posed by Baroness Cox, asked how the government are addressing issues relating to female genital mutilation. In her opening statement, Baroness Cox paid tribute to Daughters of Eve, Equality Now and 28 Too Many for their campaigning work, to the media for increasing levels of public concern and also called attention to the Tackling FGM in the UK report.

The need for prevention to be at the heart of all efforts was highlighted. A joined up approach was called for, to start today. Baroness Cox stated the need for early identification of girls at risk and the tracking of these girls. Attention was further drawn to the need for robust information-sharing protocols between health, social care, education agencies and the police. It was also announced that the UK has bid for €300,000 from the European Commission funding of €3.7 million to spread a clear message about zero tolerance of all forms of violence against women and girls, including FGC.

The reasons for practicing FGC were acknowledged; Lord Parekh noted that it does not occur due to parents wanting to harm their children but rather because they think that it is the best thing for them. Baroness Hodgson gave emotive but inspiring examples of her experiences visiting practicing communities in Cairo, where women worried that their daughters would be unmarriageable if they did not undergo FGC, and Sierra Leone, where girls are disgraced if they have not undergone the practice. In both communities, community projects and informative meetings were having a positive impact and enabling community members to question the practice. The Baroness said that:

“education is key to ending FGM, through both teaching girls their rights and educating the general communities about the dangers”.

The need for a prosecution was brought up, but legislation was said not to be enough by Lord McConnell who pointed to the need to change attitudes. He also stated that if current legislation covers only British nationals, this needs to be addressed and amended.

There was a call for change at the grassroots level and support for African-led movements towards abandonment. Within this, the need for the inclusion of religious and cultural leaders was acknowledged and the potential for the £35 million DFID programme to create lasting, sustainable change communicated, particularly through directly targeting local communities.

Baroness Barker asked whether the DFID programme would concentrate on countries where there has been a significant move to abandonment in order to learn what enables people to do this and transfer this knowledge to areas where prevalence rates are high and relatively static.

Baroness Hodgson stated the need for:

“a combination of the right laws and sensitive community education… because to truly cease this practice, the communities themselves must embrace change and not just have it foisted on them from the global north”.

We were also mentioned in the debate, with Baroness Barker saying:

I also pay tribute to the Orchid Project, an outstanding charity that works on this subject. It pointed out something extremely important: the prevalent coincidence of FGM and other conditions—such as early marriage and ill health—which damage women. Will the Minister tell us whether DfID, in its programmes abroad, and the MoJ and the Home Office here, will ensure that their programmes on forced marriage go in sync with the programmes on FGM, so that there can be a double benefit?

The Orchid Project pointed out quite rightly that FGM is not a religious practice, it is a cultural practice. However, it said that in attempting to overcome this, it is very important to get religious leaders within communities on one side. Therefore, will the Minister say whether, in the DfID programme, we are targeting religious leaders—and, in particular, men who have influence in forming opinion in communities within which this practice occurs? If we do that, we will be able to support those very brave young women such as Leyla Hussein, who herself was cut at the age of seven in Somalia and who was so eloquent in that amazing documentary, “The Cruel Cut”.

Lord Berkeley of Knighton also said that Orchid Project is:

“an example we should look at because it has had real success in various African countries in persuading people that this practice should change”.

We are glad to be involved in such high level efforts by our government in working towards an end to FGC.