Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)

I commend the Minister for Health on bringing this important legislation before the house to prohibit the practice of female genital mutilation on women and girls of migrant families in this country. This Bill gives us an opportunity to highlight women's rights and health as well as children's rights, both of which are transgressed by FGM. As a woman, I am delighted that this legislation has been introduced in line with 12 other industrialised and developed countries which have enacted criminal legislation preventing this practice. The Bill sends out the message that we as a country will not accept any violation of women or children. Deputy Costello has outlined to Deputies how difficult it was to try to get the Bill to this stage in the House.

The Bill criminalises the procedure of FGM, so that anyone removing a child or women from this State for the purpose of performing such a practice will be prosecuted. It is hard to believe that many women and girls are transported to their countries of birth to endure a barbaric procedure reminiscent of practices in the Dark Ages. The fact that this procedure is performed on young girls barely out of infancy, with the most common age being between four and ten years old, is appalling. FGM is sometimes performed on infants less than a year old. This is a fundamental violation of their human rights and a form of discrimination against women, which contributes to the repression of women in general. It is a manifestation of gender-based human rights violation which aims to control women's sexuality and autonomy over their own bodies.

Female genital mutilation is a primitive practice imposed upon women and girls which has no known health benefits but does have adverse effects of a physical and psychological nature, including the effects of mental torture, which can affect development throughout the course of a person's life. One of the most shocking outcomes of FGM is that it significantly increases the victim's risk of contracting HIV. The origin of this practise is largely undocumented and seems to be based more on culture and tradition than on religion. In some of the countries where FGM is performed, there is a spurious belief that it is a religious requirement, even though no religious scripts prescribe the practise. To us, who are fortunate to live in a democratic developed society, this seems archaic.

More than 135 million women and girls have experienced some form of FGM, including approximately 2,500 women in Ireland alone. The World Health Organisation estimates that over 3 million people in Africa alone are at risk of FGM annually. While we respect other cultures, this does not mean we should ignore practices that are harmful and that abuse the most basic human rights, including the right of women not to be discriminated against because of their gender and, in particular, the right of children to enjoy their childhood and to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, as laid down in Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

One omission in this Bill is a provision to deal with asylum law in this country. This should take into account the risk of mutilation should an asylum seeker or her female children be returned to their country of origin, for example to parts of the Horn of Africa, where the risk of FGM is 90%. Female genital mutilation is not a surgical operation but a barbaric practice inflicted upon women and girls against their will. Since the 1990s, Canada and Sweden have granted families asylum on the grounds that their female members were at risk of FGM should they be returned to their country of origin. I recognise that this goes beyond the scope of the Bill but perhaps the Minister could consider these concerns.

We need to send a strong message that the practice of FGM is wholly unacceptable. We cannot leave the matter to be decided by personal preference, culture or custom. FGM is harmful, and the Bill is just a starting point. There is much more to be done to educate communities and provide women with the support they need to oppose this primitive practice openly. Health care professionals in this country must be provided with the skills and support to deal with FGM cases.

I am pleased the Bill has received such cross-party support since its introduction by my colleague Senator Ivana Bacik a number of weeks ago. I thank her for her persistence in bringing this legislation to the House.

See this speech in context