Answers to Questions

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

In reply to the Hon. S.G. WADE (15 September 2010) (First Session).

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women): The Minister for Police has provided the following response to question one:

1. Female genital mutilation is a serious offence which carries a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment and is not acceptable under any circumstances. I assure you that the safety of women and children is of paramount concern to both the South Australia Police and to other agencies involved in these matters.

If anyone has any has any evidence or suspicions of this offence being committed in South Australia, I urge them to make a report to SAPOL so the matter can be investigated without delay.

The Minister for Multicultural Affairs has provided the following response to question two:

2. Since 1997, the government has funded the South Australian Program for the Elimination of FGM. This community development program works with community organisations and supports women and men from relevant cultural communities to work with their communities to educate them about the law in South Australia and to provide information and education to support the elimination of this practice.

The program trains women and men as peer educators who provide community leadership and information about FGM. It also undertakes programs for young people and children to promote awareness and aims to identify and support women and children at risk.

The program has close links with and supports women from the affected communities who work in welfare services or as interpreters. These peer educators or community facilitators play a vital role when undertaking for consultations with families.

The program works with agencies such as Police, social workers in Families SA, hospitals and health services to raise awareness of the issue and promote referral of any children or women at risk and provide support and intervention where needed. The program also provides placement for social work students. Twenty-seven students have been trained in the past 10 years ensuring expertise about this issue is developed in the health and child protection workforce.

The program has worked in partnership with relevant communities to produced information resources in English, Somali, Arabic, Tigrinya, Amharic and Kurdish.

For more information about the South Australian Program for the Elimination of FGM contact Women's Health Statewide on 8239 9600.

The Minister for Education and Child Development has provided the following response to question three:

3. No cases of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) have been confirmed by Families SA in the last five financial years. Families SA cannot comment on how many mandatory notification reports may have been received relating to FGM because data recorded about notifications of suspected abuse or risk of abuse does not capture this for statistical reporting purposes.

Currently a notification of FGM would be recorded as a reported suspicion of physical abuse. It would only be recorded as FGM following an investigation in which this abuse or risk of this abuse is confirmed. Families SA will change its screening and recording systems to specifically capture information regarding notifications relating to FGM for statistical reporting purposes.