Conclusions of the committee
The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
supports the report prepared by the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination
and congratulates its rapporteur, Ms Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo, on her
very comprehensive research concerning female genital mutilation,
a most shocking human rights violation, and its continuous presence
in Europe. The Social Affairs Committee also congratulates the rapporteur
of the main report for specifically treating this important matter
and fully agrees to the continuous need to address this urgent human
rights issue as pointed out through its own work leading up to Resolution 1952 (2013) and Recommendation
2023 (2013) on children’s right to physical integrity.
The report explores a wide range of topics related to female
genital mutilation, including human rights issues, physical and
psychological consequences, as well as legal, social and medical
responses to female genital mutilation in Europe. With the aim of
efficiently fighting this human rights violation, the rapporteur
seeks to understand the intricate and interconnected social, political,
economic and cultural elements fuelling such practice. The goal
of the rapporteur is to address complex challenges to be tackled
in order to prevent female genital mutilation in Europe and to ensure
appropriate care is supplied to its survivors.
In full agreement with this overall approach, the Social Affairs
Committee only wishes to propose a few amendments to strengthen
the draft resolution.
