Bacik introduces bill criminalising female genital mutilation
Issued : Wednesday 21 April, 2010
Statement by Senator Ivana Bacik
Speaking in Seanad, to introduce Female Genital Mutilation Bill 2010
I am delighted to introduce this important Bill, the Female Genital Mutilation Bill 2010. First, to define Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) - it is a practice which violates the human rights of girls and women, and causes long term physiological, sexual and psychological effects. It can cause death and has serious and permanent health implications.
Senator Prendergast will speak more about the health implications. The next question is why should we seek to legislate on FGM? First, because there is currently no explicit legal protection against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Ireland. Secondly, there is no specific legislation to protect a child from being removed from Ireland to have the FGM carried out overseas (principle of extraterritoriality). Thirdly, over 2,585 women living in Ireland are estimated to have undergone FGM; therefore FGM is a serious child protection and women's health issue that has real implications for girls and women in Ireland.
There are also approximately 10,000 women and girls living in Ireland from FGM-practising countries. Specific Irish legislation on FGM has been recommended by both the Women's Health Council in June 2008 and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children in January 2009.
On 4th February 2010, I spoke at a Seminar on mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM in Dublin, at which a "Briefing Paper on FGM and National Steering Committee Progress for Ireland" was launched.
The Women's Health Council, the HSE, and a whole range of NGOs have been involved on a Steering Group already to develop a national plan of action for Ireland to address FGM. Legislation to ban FGM was first passed in the UK in 1985. In the Dáil, Liz McManus TD introduced a bill to prohibit FGM in 2001, and last year Jan O'Sullivan TD also published similar legislation.
We urgently need a law specifically criminalising this barbaric practice which has destroyed the lives of so many girls and women world-wide.
I welcome the Minister's commitment to address this issue, and the work already done by so many NGOs and state bodies on developing a legal framework.
I do welcome and appreciate the Minister's goodwill and support for this issue. I welcome the Minister's announcement that she will publish the heads of a bill to prohibit FGM within three months, before we rise for the summer recess in July - and that she will publish the bill itself within six months."
