Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 6 February 2018 - Strasbourg

Zero tolerance for female genital mutilation (debate)

  Angelika Mlinar, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Madam President, the inhuman practice of cutting female genitals in fact reflects a deep-rooted inequality between the sexes and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls. There is no place for such a practice in a civilised society.

Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). However, it is important to remember that we have to fight this human rights violation every single day of the year. This is not just happening outside our continent. This is a practice – as we heard from our colleagues here in the House – also inside the EU, probably in most of our Member States. I want Member States to mainstream the prevention of FGM into all sectors: health, social work, asylum, education, child protection and media. Cross—sectoral cooperation is the key to fighting this inhuman practice.

This cooperation will serve to disseminate acquired knowledge and foster an enabling environment for collective social change and, above all, it will contribute to an improvement in the well—being of young women and girls where FGM is practised. Actions speak louder than words. We have a shared responsibility to fight this practice, and I thank the Commissioner for presenting to us the concrete measures taken in order to mainstream FGM prevention.

The Istanbul Convention is the first treaty to recognise that FGM exists in Europe and that it needs to be systematically addressed. Therefore, I urge the Member States which have still not ratified the Istanbul Convention finally to do so. I call on the Bulgarian Presidency to accelerate the process on their side, because it is their issue too. It is highly important that the EU cooperates in this matter and finds a unified approach to fighting violence against women and to fighting female genital mutilation. The time for zero tolerance is now.

(Applause)