Female Circumcision (Hansard, 23 March 2000)

§ Baroness Rendell of Babergh
asked Her Majesty's Government: What progress they have made towards putting an end to female circumcision in the United Kingdom.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)
My Lords, education is central to eradicating the brutal practice of female genital mutilation, or FGM. My department continues to fund relevant voluntary organisations. In addition, the Government will ensure that the findings of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health hearings on FGM are fed into the development of our sexual health strategy.

§ Baroness Rendell of Babergh
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply, which was not perhaps as encouraging as I had hoped. To sustain a more positive note, is he aware of the reversal procedures—mostly highly successful—presently being carried out at the African clinic of the Central Middlesex Hospital? Is he further aware that any woman who has been subjected to female genital mutilation may attend the clinic whenever she chooses without referral from a GP?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I want to reassure my noble friend that we take the matter extremely seriously. We shall reflect carefully on the findings of the all-party parliamentary group and we shall then wish to consider how we may take forward 403 work in that area. I pay tribute also to the work of the Central Middlesex Hospital NHS trust and to hospitals which provide similar services: Guy's, Northwick Park and those in Liverpool and Manchester.

§ Baroness Masham of Ilton
My Lords, is the Minister aware that I took the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Bill through your Lordships' House? It is of great concern that this fiendish practice may be taking place in some private hospitals up and down the country. Is it not therefore extremely important that the Care Standards Bill covers private hospitals?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for her work. It is a fact that, although the Act was passed in 1985, there have been no prosecutions. I believe that that is due to the small number of complaints which have been made. The police have found it difficult to obtain evidence to support a conviction. With regard to regulation of private healthcare, I believe that a rigorous approach must be adopted. As the noble Baroness says, the Care Standards Bill provides a mechanism by which we can do so.

§ Baroness Gardner of Parkes
My Lords, as the Minister says, the practice has been illegal since 1985. Does he therefore agree that, since that date, anyone who has had the operation carried out in this country has undergone an illegal operation? In the case of minors in particular, no parent or adult would have had the right to give permission for an illegal operation. Therefore, at any stage subsequently a person who had had such an operation would surely be entitled to bring a case for damages against whoever had conducted the mutilation. Have there been any such cases of damages and, if not, would it not be a good idea, when cases are discovered—as they are inevitably when women present for other treatments—for it to be pointed out to the women concerned that such rights exist? A few such cases would certainly do something to remedy the cause.

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, I am not aware of any cases brought to court in the way in which the noble Baroness suggests. There is no doubt that such an operation is an illegal act. It is a horrific act and one which we must pursue with vigour but, as I have already said, there are very real practical difficulties in obtaining evidence to enable the police to pursue such cases. Of course, in the context to which the noble Baroness refers, we are probably talking about the parents of the young woman concerned. That indicates the difficulties that we have in that area.

§ Baroness Gould of Potternewton
My Lords, I am pleased to hear the Minister say that notice would be taken of the findings of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health. When the new government guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, is to be issued, what 404 will be its recommendations in respect of giving training and advice on the means to prevent, reduce and ultimately eliminate the practice?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, Working Together to Safeguard Children was issued jointly in December 1999. It sets out how all agencies and professionals should work together to promote children's welfare and to protect them from abuse and neglect. Within that context, it is entirely appropriate for local authorities to review their own policies in relation to FGM.

§ Baroness Knight of Collingtree
My Lords, when in response to the noble Baroness, Lady Rendell, the Minister said that money from the Government was being paid to various groups, he did not say what those groups did. Do they merely try to treat women in distress after the operation or do they try to suggest that the operation is illegal and should not take place?

§ Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
My Lords, the groups to which we give funding do excellent work in that area. Much of their work involves education and literature, bringing home to those who may be involved in the practice both its dangers and its illegality.