Doc. 8370
12 April 1999

Female genital mutilation

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mrs Pozza Tasca and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       The Assembly notes that over 120 million women have been subjected to some form of genital mutilation and that at least 2 million children run this risk every year.

2.       The Assembly also notes and deplores the fact that genital mutilation is being practised increasingly frequently in Europe.

3.       The Assembly wishes to stress that female genital mutilation is a violation of human rights and a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

4.       The practice also has serious repercussions on sexual, reproductive and mental health and compounds the inequalities suffered by women in the communities where it is carried out.

5.       The Assembly believes that there is an urgent need for action to put an end to this practice, and recommends that the member states:

      —ta       ke measures against parents who subject their children to it and establish a system for recording the number of children who run the risk of suffering such mutilation;—

      —pr       omote an information, prevention and awareness-raising campaign on the harm caused by female genital mutilation;—

      —pr       ovide education and training programmes for the medical and teaching professions so that they can inform women about the consequences of these practices;—

      —en       sure that women and children subjected to such practices receive psychological and legal assistance.Si

Signed : ¹

Pozza Tasca, Italy, LDR

Calleja, Spain, SOC

Connor, Ireland, EPP/CD

Dayanıkli, Turkey, SOC

Etherington, United Kingdom, SOC

Karlsson, Austria, SOC

Kulbaka, Russia, UEL

Lörcher, Germany, SOC

Poptodorova, Bulgaria, SOC

Pulgar, Spain, EPP/CD

Staniou, Romania, SOC

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group