Ms Lambert and her Green colleagues in the European Parliament signed a campaign pledge to become ambassadors for the elimination of female genital mutilation.

The European campaign, launched by Amnesty International, asks MEPs to ensure strong EU plans on ending FGM agreed last November are translated into meaningful action.

Ms Lambert said: “FGM is a form of violence against women and girls with serious health and psychological consequences. The EU has an important role to play in bringing this practice to an end, and it’s important we build on the work already being done to help prevent, protect and support people in our communities who may be at risk.

“In the UK, it is believed up to 24,000 girls are at risk of FGM, the majority of whom live in London. We need to make sure the resources are in place on the ground to identify and work effectively with women and girls in FGM affected communities.”

More on the Amnesty International campaign and full text of the pledge is available here. http://www.endfgm.eu/en/pledge/

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The resolution, adopted by consensus by the UN general assembly’s human rights committee this week, calls the widespread practice harmful and a serious threat to the psychological, sexual and reproductive health of women and girls.

It calls on the UN’s 193 member states to enact and enforce legislation to prohibit FGM, to protect women and girls “from this form of violence”, to end impunity for violators – and to launch educational campaigns for girls and boys, women and men, to eliminate it.

FGM is a centuries-old practice used to control women’s sexuality in some religions, although both Muslim and Christian leaders have spoken out against it.

Ms Lambert, a member of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee, said: “When a woman is at risk of forced female genital mutilation, she faces a serious threat to her physical health and mental well-being. Many women never fully recover from this often violent act, frequently performed against their will.

“I am delighted the UN Human Rights Committee has taken this step towards a worldwide ban on this fundamental violation of the human rights of women and girls.”

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Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert, has welcomed the outcome of today’s vote in Strasbourg, which explicitly asks the UN General Assembly to pass a motion banning FGM at its forthcoming 67th session in New York.  It is estimated that some 140 million women and girls alive today have suffered from this irreparable abuse, with a further three million girls at risk each year.

A worldwide ban, adopted by the UN, would help to shift societal views on FGM from a ‘public health’ or ‘cultural’ problem, to the universal recognition of its true nature as a human rights violation and a form of violence against women.  In addition, it is hoped that an international ban would give new impetus to efforts to improve national laws on FGM, banning the practice where they exist, or adopting new, comprehensive laws where they do not.

In Europe, over 500,000 women and girls are living with the painful and traumatic implications of FMG; a conservative estimate as there is currently no data collection on FGM which would allow for comparison or an assessment of the magnitude of the problem.  Today’s resolution passed by the Parliament urges the European Commission to step up action on FGM through an inclusive EU-wide strategy to end violence against women.  MEPs have also demanded that EU Member States take firm action to combat the illegal practice wherever it occurs.

Jean, a member of the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee and co-signatory of today’s resolution, said: “Female genital mutilation is an act of physical, psychological and emotional abuse that affects hundreds of thousands of women and girls each and every day; women who are often forced to suffer in silence through fear and shame.  Many women never fully recover from this violent practice, which is frequently performed against their will, and are instead consigned to a life of pain and traumatic flashbacks.

“We must be clear – FGM is a form of gender based violence and an expression of unequal power relations.  This violation cannot be justified by respect for cultural traditions or initiation ceremonies under any circumstance.  I urge the United Nations to listen to the will of the European Parliament and take decisive action to ban FGM outright at its next session, so that all women and girls may experience life free from this heinous abuse.”

Notes to Editor

1. The full text of the joint resolution can be read at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=P7-RC-2012-0304&language=EN

2. In October 2011, Jean successfully added a package of amendments to the Qualifications Directive – one of the EU’s keystone asylum policies – which resulted in greater protection for women seeking refuge from gender related persecution, such as FGM, forced abortion and rape in situations of conflict or war.

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The appeal was launched by No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (I-AC), Euronet-FGM and La Palabre to promote and to ensure the adoption, at the 65th United Nations General Assembly in 2010, of a Resolution explicitly banning female genital mutilation and by doing so to strengthen this decisive battle for human rights worldwide.#

A worldwide ban on FGM adopted by the United Nations General Assembly would significantly help to complete the shift of perspectives on FGM from a “public health” or “cultural” problem, to the universal recognition of its true nature as a human rights violation and a form of violence against millions of women around the world. In addition, this instrument would give new impetus to efforts to improve national laws banning FGM where they exist, or to adopt one, where they do not, as well as provide strong and clear support for all activists that are struggling to put an end to this human rights violation at the national and regional level.

The appeal reads:

We, the undersigned, human rights activists and citizens worldwide, joining together after years of
struggle for female genital mutilation to be recognized and condemned as a violation of the human
right to physical integrity, and conscious that a United Nations ban will give new strength and impetus
to the efforts that are still needed to end the practice worldwide;

– call upon the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a Resolution to ban
female genital mutilation worldwide;
– call upon all governments, and upon all international and regional organizations, to support and
promote the adoption of this Resolution in 2010;
– invite all citizens of the world to support this initiative and sign the petition to put an end to this
widespread and systematic form of violence committed against women and girls, in violation of their
fundamental right to physical and personal integrity.

The appeal, which was published on 15 November 2010 in the International Herald Tribune, has already been signed by prominent political leaders from 42 countries among whom Chantal Compaoré, First Lady of Burkina Faso, Mariana Mane Sanha, First Lady of Guinea Bissau, Janet Kataha Museveni, First lady of Uganda, Chantal De Souza Yayi, First lady of Benin, Clio Napoletano, First Lady of Italy, Moushira Mahmoud Khattab, Minister of State for Family and Population, Egypt, Raid Fahmi, Minister of Science and Technology, Iraq, Hicham El Tall, Minister of Justice, Jordan, Naha Mint Mouknass, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauritania, the Nobel laureates Nadime Gordimer, Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi and Marty Ahtisaari, as well as parliamentarians, political leaders and civil society activists from countries concerned by the practice of FGM and beyond.

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