MEPs speak out over female sex mutilation

Date: 12/12/02

By Martin Banks

MEPS have backed a new campaign calling for an end to the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).

They joined forces with eight African non-governmental organisations and several prominent African figures to launch the initiative at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday (10 December).

It calls on the international community to press for the progressive elimination of FGM, which survives in parts of Europe as well as Africa.

An estimated 120 million women have suffered FGM. Every year, another two million girls and young women are subjected to the practice.

Emma Bonino, the Italian MEP and former humanitarian aid commissioner, said: "Female mutilation is a crime. In allowing so many lives to be blighted through genital mutilation we degrade ourselves and our world."

FGM involves the removal of all or part of the external female genital organs. It is an unsafe procedure, often carried out by older women to initiate girls into "womanhood". It means they are unlikely to ever enjoy normal sexual relations.

Edna Ismail, minister of social affairs in Somaliland, told the two-day conference that FGM was practised among immigrant communities in Europe.

She said: "We want to raise awareness of this problem and are calling on the international community, including the EU, to press for it to be eliminated within the next five years."

She said it was appropriate the campaign was being launched on 10 December, designated Human Rights Day, as FGM represents an "inhuman and barbaric" violation of a woman's dignity.

The procedure is not linked to religion, but perpetuated in many communities "simply because it is customary", she added.

• Anyone wishing to support the campaign can sign a petition by visiting www.stopfgm.org.

MEPs have backed a new campaign calling for an end to the practice of female genital mutilation.