The government is being urged to take further steps to eliminate female genital mutilation by making the practice illegal in Ireland.
It's estimated that more than 2,500 women living in this country have undergone the procedure, which involves removing part or all of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. Female genital mutilation (FGM ) pre-dates religions such as Islam and Christianity, and is practised most commonly in African countries like Egypt, Sudan, Togo, Kenya and Nigeria.
It is usually carried out on pre-pubescent girls, and is often done without anaesthetic, using makeshift cutting tools including blunt knives or shards of glass. Although the UN classify FGM as torture, it's thought as many as three million girls across the world are at risk each year. Recently, Ireland launched its first national action plan on the issue, pledging to work with cross-community groups, health professionals, immigration officials and gardaí to end the practice.
But speaking at the European Parliament in Brussels, Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness said that although the action plan is welcome, what's really needed is an outright ban. 'The trauma and pain that this practice causes is unbelievably brutal,' she said. 'I could not imagine it being done to my own daughters, nor can I countenance that it could be done to any other young girl. I support any move to ban female genital mutilation in this country.'
