 The final item of business today is the member's business debate on motion number 15275 in the name of Margaret McCulloch on International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put and I would be grateful if the members who would like to speak in the debate could please press the request to speak buttons now. I call on Margaret McCulloch to open the debate. Seven minutes or so please, Ms McCulloch. Thank you, Presiding Officer. In opening this debate this afternoon, I want to thank all those members who have supported the motion before us and allowed me to bring the issue of female genital mutilation to the chamber. I also want to thank all those organisations and activists who have committed so much of their time to raising awareness of FGM, not just with the wider public and in front-line services but with members, ministers, researchers and staff here in this Parliament. I am pleased that some of those people have joined us from the public gallery. This might be the last opportunity that we have to debate FGM in a plenary session but it is certainly not the first time that the Parliament has addressed the issue. Through members' debates, Government's debates, parliamentary questions and committee sessions, a number of members from across the whole Parliament have taken an interest in this important issue. Kenny Gibson, Christina McKelvie, Jenny Marra and Patricia Ferguson to name but a few. In this session in particular, there has been a renewed focus on the issues surrounding FGM and welcome progress towards the prevention and elimination of this appalling form of discrimination. In the past few days, people throughout the country and around the world observed international day of zero tolerance for FGM. From policy makers and parliaments and assemblies like this, to those working on the front line in countries where there is a practicing population, to activists and agitators worldwide campaigning for change. It was a day for reflection, to think of victims, to commemorate those who have been excluded, injured or even killed due to the ignorance and equality that lies behind FGM. It was a day for education, to raise awareness so that the world can know what this injustice is and why it must be stopped. Most importantly, it was a day for action, to say no more, to put forward solutions and to galvanise the work of charities, activists, NGOs and Governments in a drive to end this form of abuse. FGM is an extreme form of gender-based discrimination, an act of violence against women and girls, a violation of their bodies and a violation of their human rights. UNICEF estimates that there are over 120 million women and girls living with the consequences of FGM worldwide, mainly in 29 African countries where the practicing population is high and also in areas such as Kurdistan, Iraq and Egypt. The World Health Organization placed that figure at around 140 million, and the most recent UN figures suggest that it could be even as high as 200 million. Mass migration and cross-border travel brings opportunities to our society, but it also means that policy makers here must confront unfamiliar challenges from other cultures such as FGM. For clarity, FGM is a form of abuse in which women and girls' genitals are injured and altered for non-medical reasons, and that is an important point. There is no medical justification for female genital mutilation, nor does FGM have any basis in religion. It is a cultural practice, rooted in patriarchy and gender inequality. In some cultures, FGM is seen as a prerequisite for marriage, a way of preserving a girl's chastity before marriage and a woman's faithfulness afterwards. The pressure to undergo FGM in societies in which marriage is a means of finding social acceptance and economic security can be severe. The stigma of not having an undergoing FGM can be overwhelming. In meetings I held my capacity as convener of the Equal Opportunities Committee, I heard about young girls who are resisted being forced into the most extreme and disturbing forms of FGM by those closest to them, and that is another important point. There are different forms of FGM. The World Health Organization recognises four categories. Type 1, mainly, involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris. Type 2, excision, again, involves partial or total removal of the clitoris, as well as a partial or total removal of the labour—or labia, sorry. Type 3, infibrillation, involves narrowing the orifice and creating a seal by cutting and repositioning the labia with or without cutting the clitoris. Type 4 covers all other procedures, including pricking and burning and some of the most extreme and disturbing forms of FGM. Needless to say, there are no health benefits in any of those procedures, only serves to injure and to harm. Victims can experience pain, bleeding, shock, infection and longer-term abscesses, cysts, adhesions and neuromas. Type 3 FGM can cause further complications such as reproductive tract infections and incontinence. Many of the women who are cut experience chronic pain, recurring infections for the rest of their lives, depression and post-traumatic stress. The death rate among babies during and immediately after childbirth are higher for those born to mothers who had undergone some kind of FGM. Three million women and girls are cut every year. It has to stop. The Scottish Government has now launched a national action plan for FGM, setting out the steps that the Government, its agencies and its partners, can take to prevent and, hopefully, eradicate this form of abuse. It comes in the wake of Equally Safe, the joint strategy with COSLA on the prevention and elimination of violence against women. Doing more to raise awareness to support organisations who work with victims and to train health and social work professionals to spot the signs of FGM could be transformative for those who are at risk or have undergone FGM and need support. However, we also need to reach out to those who are suffering and those who are at risk in other countries. The challenge of FGM is a global one. We cannot rise to the challenge as one nation, but it is part of an international community. Nobody should have to endure this abuse. We must do all we can to close the gap between the world that we have, in which millions are cut every year, and the world that we want, in which FGM is a thing of the past. No injustice can last forever. As pernicious as this inequality is, I believe that when words become deeds and ideas lead to action, change will come. This generation can and must end FGM. I would like to congratulate Margaret McCulloch for securing tonight's debate on an issue that Margaret McCulloch pointed out in her opening. It is one that I have long been concerned about. Nearly 15 years ago, I lodged a motion condemning female genital mutilation, and I am shocked and horrified that it continues across the globe on such a vast scale as Margaret McCulloch pointed out. FGM is clearly a fundamental violation of human rights, along with the trauma and pain that it puts young women through. The lasting effects of FGM can include cysts and fertility infections, as well as increased risk of newborn deaths due to complication with childbirth. Additionally, in certain instances, the procedure has been known to cause death, and obviously psychological problems and depression can also follow when one considers that this is often inflicted on women by their closest relatives, people who they have known and trusted all their lives. FGM is a sign of deep-rooted inequality between the sexes and the societies in which it is practised and is an example of great misogyny and discrimination against girls and women. FGM is often done in certain cultures to stop women from having sex outside of marriage and keep them pure for their husbands, a double standard that is of course not practised or expected from the men who belong to such patriarchal societies. As has been said by Police Scotland that I quote, FGM is a social convention and the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice. Since that practice is almost always carried out in girls, this practice is a violation, not only of human rights but also the rights of children. The violation of these girls and women are put through is a horror that we must vigorously oppose and educate against. Since 1985 Scotland has banned the practice of FGM and created policies to stop the fuller spread of abuse among those minority communities in which it is commonplace in their own countries. Such abuse will result in the prosecution of anyone who performs or tries to coerce a young girl into having a procedure performed on them. For example, a father or grandfather can be tried and court for strongly encouraging a young girl to receive the procedure even though he may not have performed the procedure himself. There must be zero tolerance for such practices. We cannot be seen to have any form of a soft stance in this matter. The trauma that millions of girls and women all over the world have to endure is quite simply unimaginable. Having days such as international day of zero tolerance, female genital mutilation, which took place four days ago, allows Scotland and countries from across the globe to unite and show that we will not allow the sub-horrent practice to continue. Often, women or girls who have gone through this horrific torture feel too scared or ashamed to speak out about the terror that they have faced. As they face pressure from within their cultural group to remain silent and often feel the stigma, they could be attached to them by those who do not share their cultural identity. International day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation is therefore also time to make clear that the people who have been through such torture can find a safe place here in Scotland. I applaud the efforts of various charities throughout Scotland to provide support and training for victims. For example, Rape Crisis Glasgow, who thanked the Scottish Government for providing assistance to survivors of FGM, and just this past week set up a group that already helps at least 10 women. Isabel Kerr, manager at Rape Crisis Glasgow, said in a quote, "...this is giving women the chance to come together and support each other and has also given us a chance to work with the women on building confidence and self-esteem on their health and wellbeing and on managing the symptoms of their trauma." I echo Margaret McCulloch in hoping that the economy will live to see a world in which it is extreme for discrimination against women and girls as they are educated once and for all. I have a mother, a wife, a daughter and a sister, and I could not possibly imagine such horrors happening to any of them. I hope that we can continue to have a Scotland prevention, protection and services in support that are provided to all victims of FGM within Scotland. I commend Margaret McCulloch on taking this opportunity to mark the international day of zero tolerance for FGM, a practice that infringes the basic human rights and health of women across the world. The screw practice, which is often carried out with crude tools and without anaesthetic, has no basis in medical necessity, but is embedded in a long-standing cultural system that is deeply patriarchal. As such, in seeking to intervene and change attitudes within communities where the practice is present, we must ensure that any Scottish action plan takes a consultative approach, engaging with knowledgeable charities and community leaders as much as possible. Only through working with communities will we be able to identify where this most violent and cruel form of repression is prevalent, raising awareness and punishing perpetrators. All women have a human right to feel safe within their families and safe as part of society as a whole. Safety means equality, security and absolute freedom over their own bodies and wellbeing. The equally safe strategy encapsulates those rights and shows how policies can be put in place to tackle all forms of violence, repression and abuse of women. FGM is included, but in light of reports both here and throughout the United Kingdom, it is only right that we as a Parliament look to develop a more targeted and long-term action plan, and I welcomed the publication of the draft for consultation last week. That will look to prevent future mutilation by protecting young girls who are at risk, while also seeking to provide accessible and anonymous support for women who are trying to survive with physical and mental scars. One such survivor, Nimco Alley, was cut as a seven-year-old while on holiday in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa and set up the Daughters of Eve charity, which works to protect women from FGM. She shared her experience in advance of Zoodah Tolerance Day. FGM, she said, is a brutal practice, but it is also a very simple one to end. If you stop one woman having FGM done to her, then you break that link and prevent it being done to the next generation. I came from a family that was 100 per cent FGM, and that has gone down to zero in a generation. It is something that can be ended. We are finally shaking the taboo of FGM, but we have to be vigilant and cannot be complacent. Ms Alley wants FGM to be discussed as part of mandatory sexual and relationship education classes at schools in England. I do not see why Scotland should be any different, and we welcome the minister's comment on that. Children of all backgrounds have the capacity to break this cycle, and their awareness and support of classmates can help to change that cruel cultural norm. As the draft action plan states, FGM will continue to be a problem in Scotland until communities themselves choose to abandon the practice. We recognise that, in order to find a solution to eradicate FGM, working with potentially affected communities is vital to breaking the cycle of violence. I pay tribute to those organisations that work with those communities in Scotland to achieve eradication. The Scottish Refugee Council report tackling FGM in Scotland towards a Scottish model of intervention looked at existing census data and saw it to provide an albeit limited picture of the extent of risk to communities living here now. The findings are highlighted in the draft action plan. There are approximately 24,000 men, women and children living in Scotland born in a country affected by FGM to some extent. There are communities potentially affected by FGM living in every Scottish local authority area, with the largest being in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee respectively. 2,750 girls were born in Scotland to mothers born in an FGM practicing country between 2001 and 2012. That is the scale of the potential problem, but we can eradicate FGM in Scotland by taking a consultative approach that is mindful of the many cultural factors that I have mentioned. No woman should feel at risk and no child should feel that they are powerless over their own body. Such abuse can never be tolerated and should never be the norm for any community. The equality and human rights of all women kind demand that all nations stand as one. Against that, cruel practice on zero tolerance and every other day. Many thanks. I now call Annabelle Goldie to be followed by John Mason. Deputy Presiding Officer, I am very pleased to contribute to this debate marking the international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation. I, too, pay tribute to Margaret McCulloch for securing the parliamentary time for both this important and deeply disturbing issue. Originally, an African-led movement awareness of FGM is greatly increased in recent years thanks to the tireless efforts of campaigners such as those to whom Malcolm Chisholm referred. They have brought this hidden horror out of the shadows because the horrific experience that is FGM with all the psychological and physical aftershocks will reverberate from many girls from adolescence through to adulthood. Understandably, girls and women shamed by the stigma and traumatised into silence by what has happened to them are often reluctant to speak out about their ordeals, but some survivors have shared their experiences and these experiences shake you to the very core. Girls in their infancy, trusting, unknowing and unable to defend themselves are typically circumcised with a range of implements without anaesthesia in anonstelral environment and with no appropriate aftercare. Some girls bleed to death, others are left with debilitating pain and complications that will afflict them for the rest of their lives. Their parents can be complicit in the so-called right of passage, but others have no idea what their daughters have been subjected to. The perpetrator is often summoned in a position of trust within the family or local community. Summon a child would not instinctively fear and victims are reassured with meaningless platitudes of favourable prospects and promises of good husbands. However, this practice is not a right of passage in the country. It is a gross violation of human rights and of the very essence of womanhood. A woman in the UK is barbarically cut every 96 minutes, but the real situation is feared to be much worse. This is a silent and often unreported crime, so we must assume that the figure is considerably higher. I applaud both the UK and the Scottish Governments for their efforts and initiatives to eliminate this horrendous practice in our home nations. It is my sincere hope that we can build on this momentum in the months and years to come. Figures from UNICEF show that the scale of FGM across the globe is much worse than international organisations first thought. Previously, it was estimated that 125 million girls worldwide had been cut, but UNICEF has disclosed in just the past few days that the figure is shockingly higher—closer to 200 million. UNICEF warns that, with increasing population growth, the number of girls and women undergoing FGM will rise significantly over the next 15 years, and that is an appalling prospect. Mali musician and FGM survivor Inna Moudja bravely shared her experience of cutting in its aftermath with the United Nations last Saturday, and she said, and I'm quoting, I felt that I would never become a woman because I had something missing and I wasn't worth it. It took a lot away from what I could achieve as a teenager and what I could realise as a teenager, so I lost my identity when I went through FGM. I didn't know who I was. I didn't know how strong I could be because cutting me was telling me that I'm not good enough. FGM dates back to antiquity. Millions upon millions of women have been subjected to it, suffered from it and have been devalued by it. We now have an opportunity to empower and protect not just a new generation of women but their children and their children's children. This is our call to action, so let's unite to end a barbaric anachronism and, in doing so, let us give hope to women, to their daughters and to the unborn girls of the future. The Equal Opportunities Committee was very keen that we should have a debate, although there was not normal committee time. I think that most of us are speaking in this debate. I know that Sandra White apologises for not being here, she had another commitment that she couldn't get out of. I confess that this is not the easiest topic to speak on, however I do believe that we have a duty to speak about it and specifically I think that those of us who are men have a duty to speak about it and not claim that we have no responsibility. One of the main facts that we have learned on the committee is that it's very difficult to find out the facts of what is actually happening in Scotland today. In the past, we would have assumed that FGM was mainly restricted to the 29 or so countries where it is most commonly practised and perhaps on top of that to the additional countries where a significant minority had migrated. In the past, that would not have included Scotland to any real extent but things have changed. Here in Scotland we have a much more diverse population than we used to do and I very much welcome that. We gain from a whole variety of new Scots, including in my experience African Christians being involved in churches and bringing a real enthusiasm. Alongside all that positive input from other cultures, there can be more negative practices appearing and FGM is certainly one of those. In Scotland's national action plan, the wording on pages 11 and 12 is couched very carefully and wisely under FGM in the Scottish context. There are no clear and robust figures for the prevalence of FGM in Scotland because of the hidden nature of the crime in its report. Tackling FGM in Scotland towards a Scottish model of intervention, the Scottish Refugee Council analysed data. As some of the words, the report did not seek to determine prevalence of FGM but rather found that there were 23,979 men, women and children born in one of the 29 countries identified by UNICEF 2013 as an FGM practicing country now living in Scotland in 2011. It also says that 2,750 girls were born in Scotland to mothers born in an FGM practicing country between 2001 and 2012. That was very much the line from witnesses that the committee heard from in our evidence sessions. However, we did also hear from some working in the sector that they are virtually certain that cutting is being carried out in Glasgow and Edinburgh at least. Perhaps more common is the tendency for girls to be taken back by their families to the country of their roots for the procedure to be carried out there, with the parents often being under considerable family pressure. Clearly, legislation is part of the answer in tackling this, but we also heard of innovative ways of approaching it. For example, by attempting to get the parents to sign a certificate, we are promising not to allow FGM to be carried out on their daughters. That might have no legal weight, but it can make a difference to the parents' own attitude and can strengthen their resolve when under pressure from extended family. Last Tuesday, when a very useful event hosted by the committee at which Margaret McCulloch, Alec Neill and representatives of some of those tackling the issue spoke, as always it was particularly moving to hear from survivors of FGM speaking about some of their personal experiences. I found it helpful to hear from a young guy from an African background who perhaps unusually had it discussed with him by his mother and has since become passionate on educating his peers who come from a similar background. I think that it is useful to emphasise at this point too, which Margaret McCulloch also referenced, that FGM is quote, a cultural practice that does not have any basis in religion. From that point it is clear that there is a huge difference between FGM and male circumcision. The two are not comparable and there are both health and religious arguments for male circumcision that are not replicated for FGM. I am very grateful to the opportunities that speak in this debate. The committee unanimously felt that we would like to raise it in the chamber and my hope is that going forward both the Parliament and the Government will continue to treat FGM with the seriousness that it deserves. I join with others in congratulating Margaret McCulloch for holding the debate here and recognising our commitment to the issue. Indeed, many others, Kenny Gibson, others who have been mentioned and also the Scottish Refugee Council who contributed to the debate that we have had. I think that there is a great importance in international days. It is a good way of highlighting issues. As Annabelle Goldie said, with 200 million women affected across the world, then this is certainly needed in highlighting. What we do know is that many problems can be resolved by a gradualist approach. That is not the case with this issue. Zero tolerance is the only way that we can deal with this. I look forward to the day when society reflects and this vile practice is being a total aberration. In the meantime, what we are dealing with is a violation of human rights, and I am always keen that we take a rights-based approach. That is certainly the case and this has been said many times. There are often very difficult things to talk about when you are talking about injuring genitals, as Margaret McCulloch said, extremely disturbing behaviour. This is violence against women and girls. This is gender and equality. I am delighted that Scotland's national action plan is in place, and I think that it is important that the Scottish Government works with cause law on that. That is because the public service workers are often at the front line of how we can address this issue, not exclusively, but of course significantly, among those who are medical staff. It is about prevention, protection, providing services and support the action plan. Malcolm Chishol is entirely right to say that it is not an issue for Scotland, it is not an issue for the UK, it is not an issue for the EU, it is an issue for the world to deal with. Something that jumped out at me in relation to the action plan was the proposal that there would be access to informed mental health services, because there is a veil of secrecy around this whole issue, there is mystery around it. As my late mother would say, you only know what you know, and it is very challenging for people to understand all the different aspects of this. As someone said, living with the consequences of this, the mental health impact is important. The practitioner who is dealing with that absolutely understands what is involved. We must deal with that significant breach of trust. We have heard terms such as euphemisms such as children being taken on holiday. That is a significant thing in a family relationship if people feel that there is a breach of trust there in the years ahead. As has been said, I think that there is a great deal of discomfort reading and listening about this, let alone discussing it, but we must. I would also say that it would not surprise anyone to hear me say this in relation to a number of issues. It is not exclusively an urban issue either. I know no one is saying that. There is the density of population that can mean that services are there, but support must be provided around the country, not least because we know there are challenges for ethnic minority individuals living in rural communities. We know that the overall aim of the strategy is to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. That is at the key. That is about power and abusive relationships. We know, as has been said, that that would not be happening to men. That is gender-based violence. There is an important role, as has been said, for males. I applaud as an MSP like many others here. We have the great privilege to meet people. It has been a real privilege to meet the survivors and hear their courage in the manner in which they have spoken. I have to say that I found it very humbling. I think that we must first and foremost ensure that respect for every individual. We must have a rights-abates-based approach to everything. This abuse must end, so let us all fight together for the eradication of SGM. As a member of the Equal Opportunity Committee, I would like to repeat the words of John Finnie. It has been very much a privilege to be involved in the debate and in the progress of the Scottish Government is doing and all the third sector organisations are doing to tackle this problem. I thank again Margaret McHeath for bringing that debate to Parliament. It is so important that we got it here. Of course, we had a debate last year. In February last year, we debated the motion from the Scottish Government about the International Day of Zero Tourism to Female Genital Mutilation. The Cabinet Secretary then, Alex Neil, talked about the Scottish Government's commitment to fund the programme of work to tackle female genital mutilation in Scotland and protect those women and girls of risk, at risk of harm from this human rights abuse. I am delighted that the Cabinet Secretary launched the action plan last week. In my contribution to the debate last year, I did say that this is an acceptable and illegal practice, should not be called by its abbreviation FGM. I did encourage at the time everyone to use this full name, Female Genital Mutilation, because it's what it says and it's so important, and I would like maybe some minister to reflect into this on what we write and what we say. Another point I developed last year was the role of men in communities where female genital mutilation is a rarity. I said then that men must not be excluded from this issue, but be seen as part of the solution to when this is an acceptable and illegal practice, and I'm delighted that, one year on, as I found this work of the project, My Voice, has really understood the role of men. Let me read the flyers, inviting people to participate to the project. Are you a man who is from a community ethnic group potentially affected by female genital mutilation, or cutting or by female circumscription? Are you living in Scotland? We would love you to get involved in a new project. We are starting called My Voice, and that project is so, so important. It's been with the support of the Scottish Government in collaboration with the Indian Territory Research Forum, Rosni, and the Institute for International Health and Development at Queen Margaret University. I would encourage the minister to look at the research. I know we are a bit late, but I would love the research to be published after the election, but not in a period of period, just to make sure you get all the coverage that you should get. And we understood from the outset it's crucial to work with men to develop services and support for communities affected by female genital mutilation. John Mason talked about the event which was organised by the committee, by the equal opportunities committee, a fantastic event last week, and the young guy, as he called it, Oye Debo Ola Lekhan, was really, really inspirational. He really told us how important is the role of fathers, the role of son, and husband who have no idea at all of what is happening, that culture, which maybe, like Kenny Gibson said earlier, was maybe a patriarchal kind of idea at the start. And now very much, the men are very much isolated from it. And we don't realise in the modern day what's happening to women. So this action plan talks about including men, women and young people, but I will again encourage the minister to make sure that men are maybe seen as a key solution to that problem. And that young man, Oye Debo, was really fantastic and very inspirational. To conclude, I would like to talk about a point, a historic point about some of the contributions said about a program from other cultures and other countries. Let me read from the medical times and Gazette, that the performance of clitoridectomy on a woman without a knowledge and consent is an offense against medical ethics need not to be said. We suspect it is amenable to the criminal law of the land. This article was written in London in April 1867, denouncing a practice that was wrongly claimed to treat many conditions, menstrual pains, bladder problems, epilepsy, insanity, spinal irritation, masturbation and even lesbianism. I did not end there in the American Journal of Clinical Medicine half a century later, in June 1915, we can read that circumcision in the female is necessary with guidance how to perform it in 1915. We know that the practice in the U.S. survived over 50 years and stopped only in the 1960s. Why Christian women in America are alive today have been mutilated that way. So, you know, when Cain Geiston talked about, I would not want my mother or my wife to be involved with that. Maybe your grandmother was. Maybe your great grandmother was. And it's something we have to understand. If you want to understand, we have to understand the past before we pass judgment on other cultures, of other cultures today because in Scotland only since 1985 is female genital mutilation a criminal offence. We should know about our history of female genital mutilation to better understand what is happening today. Let boy and girls, men and women, let them know about the rarity and the horror of female genital mutilation and let's eradicate it together. There are some battles that constantly have to be re-fought. They seem to re-emerge each generation. I was going to begin by remarking about the illegality in 1985 and the closing loophole in 2015, separated by 30 years, and the need to still have this debate, to still have this action, to produce this action plan. Here is Christian Allard suggesting and indeed quoting about this issue having been raised and having been dealt with, having been argued over going back such a longer period. We are here that we have got quite as far as we have in exposing the issue that we have. An international day is a testimony to everybody who is working out there in communities around Scotland internationally and in here in the chamber to continue to highlight it. Margaret McCulloch paid tribute to many members who have done this over some time. Margaret McCulloch was right to place this in the context of gender violence. That is a form of structural gender violence through the way that expectations are placed in those societies and cultures and the things that are demanded. It is not tied to religion, although sadly there are those who do seek to quote religion falsely to justify it. It is not tied to a particular continent or even a region and even within the countries—yes 29 that John Mason quotes—there are localised differences. It is simply a practice that is the manifestation of gender violence in particular societies and cultures and gender violence wherever it takes place is not acceptable. It is also often carried out by close friends, people even who gain status as a result of their activity. The accounts that I have read on this tell of the pressure that is involved to not just to undergo female genital mutilation but to perpetrate it to support your relatives to undergo the experience. You can say that that is complicit but those people too are coming under great threat, great forms of oppression and are being forced to do things by cultural practice that should have been banned a long time ago. Those who are not are stigmatised, they are seen as unclean. Words like that are common in accounts and those who reject FGM, female genital mutilation, are often treated less favourably as a result. Those who do suffer it undergo health problems that are often lifelong. However, what is terrifying is that in some cases it is not even recognised as a practice. The phrase FGM is unfamiliar to many. It has become in those communities where it still continues so normalised that it seems to be just a natural part of the growing up process. That is a really deep challenge for anybody to try and deal with that in an ingrained way. If you look back to those efforts and the exposition of the issue 100 years ago, we can be sure that that fell far away from anything that could be described as culturally sensitive. It is an ever-present danger that those who are most at risk are pushed further away by our good intentioned attempts to help them. Malcolm Chisholm identified the importance of partnership and sensitivity and I absolutely totally agree. That has been the approach that we have been taking on the national action plan to reflect the need to involve everybody. When you are potentially asking people to criminalise their families, that is going to be difficult and sensitive. The societal standards and attitudes can be best challenged often by people who are already inside those societies that are expressing that concern and who are showing leadership by supporting them to be champions for progress and reform. Last year, in one of the debates that we have had here, I remember the issue—indeed, the Equal Opportunities Committee—of which I am also an alum, I remember the issue of the passport being raised that could be shown by family members who had come under pressure to put their children forward, often abroad, for the procedure, for the mutilation. It would be a card that would say, if you take me back, if you do this, you will cause severe consequences for me. That sort of scheme is now operating from England and Scotland and some of the early response from England has been quite positive. Even though we are doing quite a lot on the issue, we have to keep going forward. We have to keep refighting these battles and continue to support people in the on-going challenge. That is why we have the national action plan. That is why we have identified further things that we want to do. We need to redouble our efforts with front-line staff. The action plan identifies that we will have our multi-agency national guidance soon, early 2016, but there is also a further stage beyond that to provide even further information so that people working at the front-line can identify the signs. A new ICD code to clarify reporting to make that whole awareness issue, to try and get that understanding of how many instances are happening clearly into the system. A recommendation all statutory agencies should have at least one named professional with expertise on FGM. To answer the point that Malcolm Chisholm had raised earlier to consider legislation, we are looking at the provisions relating to female genital mutilation that have come into force in England and Wales and have commissioned a community-based organisation—again, partnership being the key—to consult with a cross-section of the communities to ascertain their views and to see what we can do. However, even though we have not taken the approach of the mandatory duty that is in legislation here, that is a child protection issue very clearly. It is covered by that legislation, it is covered by that work. We want to continue supporting the organisations and the agencies across Scotland to deal with that, to support the champions for change in their own society. We can look around not just the work that has happened here to continually draw that issue into the limelight but also around the world, where there are examples of great societal change, with Kenya having taken great action in particular. Our resolve is clear in this Government, our resolve is clear in this Parliament, our resolve is clear in this society and indeed around the world is growing. That is a good place to be in and we will continue to work in partnership with everyone around this chamber and around the country to tackle the scourge of female genital mutilation. Thank you very much minister. That concludes Margaret McCulloch's debate on international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation and I now close this meeting of Parliament.