Moves to ban FGM welcomed

Louise Bours, North West UKIP MEP

New measures to prevent female genital mutilation have been welcomed by UKIP health spokesman Louise Bours.

"This barbaric practice has been illegal in this country since 1985 but it is only this year that there have been prosecutions," she said.

A £1.4m prevention programme aimed at ending the practice is being unveiled today by David Cameron at a global summit in London.

"I understand the difficulties in investigating this crime and I feel the real answer lies in educating young girls that it is their right to say 'no' to FGM," said Ms Bours, North West MEP.

"This is a widespread practice in 29 countries in Africa and also in some Asian and Middle Eastern countries and it is estimated that up to 170,000 women and girls living in England and Wales could have undergone it.

"It is very much a hidden situation but it is a terrible violation of female rights. It is a tradition but that does not make it okay. Many traditions are fine and should be preserved but this is not one of them," said Ms Bours.

"There is no medical reason for this practice, which can take different forms, and it can lead to infection, permanent pain on urination, infertility and even death in childbirth. It causes physical as well as psychological harm and must be stamped out.

"I am glad to hear that the situation is slowly improving but across the globe 30 million girls are at risk and that is awful. It may actually prove easier to address the problem existing in this country, with its modern Western attitudes, than in the lands where it originates from.

"Forced marriage is another serious problem, which also violates womens' rights, and I am glad that that issue is also to be addressed at the summit," said Ms Bours, who is a substitute member of the EU Women's Rights & Gender Equality Committee.