Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005

rdf:langString Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005

rdf:langString An Act of the Scottish Parliament to restate and amend the law relating to female genital mutilation and to provide for extra-territorial effect; and for connected purposes.

rdf:langString Scottish Parliament

rdf:langString Female Genital Mutilation Act 2005

rdf:langString Amended

rdf:langString The Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005 (asp 8) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. It extended previous legislation by also making it illegal for UK nationals to perform female genital mutilation outside the borders of the UK. There have been no known cases of girls from Scotland being sent abroad for the procedure. The Act also increased the maximum penalty from five to 14 years. It replaced the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985. The corresponding legislation for the rest of the United Kingdom is the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) hasbeen illegal in the United Kingdom since 1985 when the Prohibition of FemaleCircumcision Act 1985 was passed in Scotland. The rest of the United Kingdomquickly followed suit with each country creating its own version of the law. Overthe decades that this law was in place, no conviction could be mounted as the lawitself was too vague to be enforced properly. In order to protect the women ofthe British Isles the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 was replied andreplaced in 2003 when the United Kingdom passed the stricter Female GenitalMutilation Act 2003 and Scotland’s corresponding Prohibition of Female GenitalMutilation (Scotland) Act 2005. The Scottish Prohibition of FemaleGenital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005 strengthens the original Prohibition ofFemale Circumcision Act 1985 by defining Female genital mutilation in multipleforms. Female genital mutilation (FGM)is defined in section 1 of the act is "to excise, infibulate or otherwisemutilate the whole or any part of the labia majora, labia minora, prepuce ofthe clitoris, clitoris or vagina of another person". While this was usefulto draw convictions originally, the wording inadvertently also prohibited doctorsand other people in the medical professions from giving several types of operationsthat may be necessary during and after child birth. The law was soon revised tosay that no crime may be committed by an approved individual if the operationor procedure on another person is necessary for their physical or mental health;or if the surgical operation in question takes place during any stage of labor,or child birth, or if the operation takes place immediately after child birthfor a purpose connected with said child birth or labor. The Scottish Prohibition of FemaleGenital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005 continues to surpass the original Prohibitionof Female Circumcision Act 1985 in preventing mutilation on a further level by addingthe "Aiding and abetting female genital mutilation" clause to the act. The Aiding and abetting clause as well asrelated article define aiding and abetting as "To plan, help, assist,brainwash, intimidate, persuade, encourage or to be involved in any way incircumcising any girl or woman. This includes fathers and grandfathers whodemand that their daughter or granddaughter is circumcised, even if they do notarrange the ritual to be involved in any way in getting any woman or girl tocircumcise herself." The clause was crucial in the process of mountingconvictions for female genital mutilation as the original Prohibition of FemaleCircumcision Act 1985 only prohibited the actual act of the mutilation bywhoever commits the procedure, but not the people who would arrange theprocedure or those who convinced the woman in question to have her genitalsmutilated. Mutilation (Scotland) Act was further strengthened the Prohibition of FemaleCircumcision Act 1985, by outlining the punishments for committing Female genitalmutilation of aiding and abetting female genital mutilation. Anyone convicted ofFemale genital mutilation or related offenses will be jailed for up to 14 yearsas well as a non-disclosed fine, and have their children sent to live withrelatives. If the convicted does not have a visa or necessary documentation toremain in Britain, the convict in question as well as their immediate familywill be deported to their country of origin and punished to the full extent ofthe law, as well as the possibility of being banned from working with childrenor returning to Britain. If the woman who has been mutilated is under the ageof 17, she may be removed from the custody of her parents and be given medicaltreatment, while her parents or Care takers will be given strict conditions thatthey must comply with for the girl in question's health and protection. Furthermoreany United Kingdom national or United Kingdom resident found attempting toleave the United Kingdom for the purpose of female genital mutilation will betreated as thought the offence was committed in Scotland, regardless of theactual location or destination. There was controversy over the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (Scotland) 2005, as some claim the law discriminated against African immigrants; to which the Scottish governmentresponded "This new law applies to everyone in Scotland, no matter where theyare from. Many communities which circumcise girls are African, but femalecircumcision also happens in other countries, including in some parts of theMiddle East, India, Sri Lanka and Australia."