Mr. Speaker, February 6 is the International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation. Every year, more than 3 million young girls are at risk of being subjected to genital mutilation, and some 500,000 of those girls live in Europe.
Women are being repressed and discriminated against in this way on the grounds of tradition and cultural symbolism. Mutilations are done in great secrecy in the worst sanitary conditions and are completely illegal. Knives, razor blades and even scissors are used for the various barbaric operations. No anesthetic is used. It is a highly traumatic experience for these young girls and unfortunately, many of them do not survive.
Let us not consider this day to be just a reminder of the fact that these inhumane practices exist; let us eradicate these practices for good. It is unacceptable in 2011 for such indignities to the female body to continue to occur.