1,600 girls in Ireland at risk of FGM

The Government must act urgently to ensure that the first conviction in a case of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Ireland becomes the last, a leading charity has warned.

As many as 1,632 girls living in Ireland are estimated to be at high risk of FGM and Siobhán McGee, CEO of development charity Actionaid, said that Ireland must now work hard to make sure that yesterday’s conviction is the last case of its kind in Ireland.

Yesterday, a couple were convicted and jailed for the genital mutilation of their then one-year-old daughter, who was injured in 2016.

The victim’s 37-year-old father was sentenced to five and a half years in jail and her mother to four years and nine months.

Reacting to the case, Ms McGee said: “It’s heartbreaking. She already had to suffer such an atrocity and now she and her siblings will lose their parents for a few years which is a long time in a child’s life.

“Looking at the profile of families, there are 1,600 girls who could be at risk of FGM in Ireland, although it’s difficult to quantify as it’s such a hidden topic.

“When we’ve worked on this issue in other countries in a structured way, we have seen a decline in FGM.

"So we can decrease and eliminate the practice. We must work very hard to ensure that this does not happen again.”

Ms McGee called for all relevant agencies the departments of justice, health, social protection, the HSE, and NGOs to work together to build a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to FGM in Ireland.

She said: “It’s a challenge that exists across the world, and now that some people from other regions live here we have to put a response in place because it is not going away and people who are here who have already endured it need support.”

According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) data from 2016, an estimated 5,790 women and girls living in Ireland have suffered FGM.

Detective chief superintendent Declan Daly of the Garda National Protective Services Bureau said that yesterday’s sentencing “sends a strong and important message that female genital mutilation, the mutilation of children and young girls, is not and will not be tolerated”.

“It is a heinous and barbaric practice which is a criminal offence in Ireland,” he added.

Ireland has a long and proud history of embracing traditions and customs from abroad, however there can be no ‘welcome’ for any activity which brings harm to children.

World Vision Ireland, an international aid charity, said 200m women and girls have undergone FGM globally and that it is an act of violence against women and girls which has no health benefits whatsoever.

The charity said that gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, but that some women and girls are particularly vulnerable, including young girls, migrants and refugees, indigenous women and ethnic minorities, or women living through humanitarian crisis.

One of these dangers is a vulnerability to FGM.

FGM is defined as the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or any practice that deliberately changes or injures the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

Yesterday’s ruling was welcomed by Ifrah, a foundation to end the practice set up by FGM survivor and activist Ifrah Ahmed.

Ms Ahmed will star in a film about fighting gender-based violence and has called on the international community “to commit more funding and focus to the elimination of this hideous and harmful practice”.

Gardaí have called on all communities to be vigilant and aware of the crime of FGM and to report any concerns to their Garda station, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or call the Child Abuse Reporting line on 1800 555 222.