FGM Bill completes Stage 2

Date: 11th March 2020
Category: Civil Rights and Freedoms

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The Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Bill passed at Stage 2 on 23rd January 2020. The Stage 3 debate is tabled for 19th March 2020.

The aim of the legislation is to strengthen statutory protections for women and girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) by providing for FGM Protection Orders and guidance.

Freedom of Information requests submitted by Together found that Police Scotland recorded 28 ‘concern markers’ for FGM on the Scottish Interim Vulnerable Persons Database in 2018. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde identified women with FGM on at least 138 occasions in 2017 and 2018, whilst NHS Lothian identified 93 women These figures are likely to underestimate the scale of FGM in Scotland, as cases often go unreported.