Female Genital Mutilation Bill welcomed
Published: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
OUTLAW BARBARIC MUTILATION OF WOMEN, SAYS NWCI.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) must be outlawed in Ireland, and it must become an offence to take a child abroad for the purpose of performing FGM on her, according to the National Women's Council of Ireland. "There are several thousand women and girls in this country who have been mutilated in their countries of origin in Africa and the Middle East, and who are suffering physically and emotionally as a result," said NWCI Director, Susan McKay. "We must ensure that this brutal violation cannot be practised with impunity here, and that we do not collude in this practise elsewhere in the world."
Welcoming today's introduction in the Senate by Senator Ivana Bacik of a bill to prohibit FGM, the NWCI said that it was essential that the risk of FGM being practised here be taken seriously. "Although under existing law perpetrators can be prosecuted for assault, legislators in other countries including the UK have recognised that this could be thwarted if a claim was made that the victim consented," said Ms McKay. "FGM must be named and criminalised."
AkiDwA, the migrant women's group, which is a member of the NWCI, has been campaigning for several years for this legislation. Its National Director, Salome Mbugua, said a clear signal must be sent out that FGM is not acceptable in Irish society. "Legislation allows parents in Ireland to say no to family pressures from their home countries to subject their daughters to FGM" Ms Mbugua said. "Such a law would let perspective practitioners of the practice know that that girls are valued and protected in Ireland."
Ms McKay said that previous attempts by Labour TD's Jan O'Sullivan and Liz McManus, had come to nothing and the issue had never been debated in the houses of the Oireachtas, though the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children has recommended legislation. "Senator Bacik's bill must be supported," she said. "We must uphold the human rights of women and children." [ENDS]
Contact: Susan McKay, Director, National Women's Council of Ireland.
Tel. 087 7582222; for further information see www.akidwa.ie/fgm.php
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