World Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation – EU appeal to end the crime

In view of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, on 6 February 2023, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, Mr Giuseppe Borelthe vice president for Values ​​and Transparency, Mr. Viera Eurovathe vice president for Democracy and Demography, Mr. Dubravka Switzerlandthe Commissioner for Equality, Ms. Helena Dallyand the Commissioner for International Corporate Relations, Mr. Yuta Urpilainenjoined their voices to reiterate the EU’s unwavering commitment to the elimination of female genital mutilation globally and made the following statement:

“Female genital mutilation is a violation of human rights and a form of violence against women and girls. It has no health benefits and causes lifelong harm to women and girls.

It affects over 200 million people worldwide, of which an estimated 600,000 live in Europe. We must take decisive action to bring about change and eliminate this practice if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 5.3) of zero female genital mutilation by 2030.

Transforming social and gender norms through working with men and boys is critical to ending FGM. Since 2016, the EU has been supporting the joint UNFPA-UNICEF programme for this purpose with 18.5 million euros, creating 1,758 coalitions of men and boys.

Last year the Commission proposed rules at EU level to combat violence against women. The new rules will include the criminalization of female genital mutilation across the EU. This year we will also present a recommendation to prevent harmful practices against women and girls in the first place.

Often female genital mutilation does not take place in the EU, but girls are taken to a third country for this purpose. From March, police and border guards will be notified when a person is at risk of gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, thanks to the upgraded Schengen Information System.

As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year, it is time for women and girls to break free from violence once and for all. It is our responsibility to protect their right to safety and physical autonomy. Female genital mutilation must stop.”

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As defined by the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation includes all procedures for the partial or total removal of female external genitalia or other injury to female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is estimated that in just 17 European countries 190,000 girls are at risk of FGM, while 600,000 women live with the consequences of this practice in Europe. Every year at least 20,000 women and girls come to Europe as asylum seekers from countries where they are at risk of female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is a practice performed on young girls, from their infancy to the age of 15, for a number of wrong cultural or social reasons. Female genital mutilation is a form of violence against women and girls that has serious physical and psychological effects throughout their lives.

The European Commission is firmly committed to ending all forms of gender-based violence, in line with EU equality policies. This commitment is outlined in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024, the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the EU Gender Equality Action Plan III and the EU Strategy for the rights of the child, which aims to end violence against children, including female genital mutilation both inside and outside the EU. In line with these policies and our commitment to ending female genital mutilation in In Europe and globally, we support and work with survivors, affected families and communities, experts and policy makers.

The criminalization of female genital mutilation is a requirement under the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. This convention has been signed by all EU member states and has been ratified by 21 member states to date. The Commission is working with the Council on the EU’s accession to the Convention and remains fully committed to this goal.

On 8 March 2022 the Commission presented a new proposal to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence, and in 2023 it will issue a specific recommendation to prevent harmful practices, including female genital mutilation. This will provide additional, specialized support and protection to victims of this violence.

The Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values ​​program provides funding to projects to tackle gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation. Ten projects were selected under the 2022 call for proposals for the DAPHNE program and awarded €5.6 million to address issues such as preventing child marriage in the Roma community in Bulgaria, creating safe spaces for migrant women and girls— to share their experiences in Luxembourg and, more generally, the involvement of young people in the prevention of female genital mutilation in Europe.

From 7 March, national authorities will be able to rely on the renewed Schengen Information System. This system will provide national authorities with a new category of registrations aimed at preventing the movements of identified potential victims by protecting vulnerable women and girls at risk of becoming victims of gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), to which all EU Member States are parties, also condemns violence against children, including female genital mutilation. In 2021 the Commission issued a comprehensive EU strategy on the rights of the child, which includes concrete actions and recommendations to end all forms of violence against children, including female genital mutilation.

In the context of external action and development cooperation, the elimination of FGM remains a key objective of the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024 and the EU Action Plan on Gender Equality 2021 -2025. This is reflected both in political dialogues and in concrete actions such as, for example, the support given to the global joint UNFPA/UNICEF program to eliminate female genital mutilation, the “Team Europe” initiative on sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa, and the regional program Spotlight on Africa, which granted €7.5 million to combat this practice in 17 partner countries. Despite restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 650,000 women and girls were offered support services against gender-based violence, including support to prevent harmful practices. The EU also supports projects to tackle FGM at national level through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). For example, in Somalia the EU is supporting the empowerment of civil society organizations to lobby and promote policy on FGM, while in Sudan the EU is supporting legislative reform to end FGM of female genital mutilation in rural communities.

Since 2016 the EU has also supported the joint UNFPA-UNICEF program to eliminate female genital mutilation, having contributed a total of €18.5 million. The EU seeks to transform social and gender norms by working with men and boys, which is key to ending FGM. By 2021 the program had created 1,758 coalitions of men and boys to actively support the elimination of FGM in their families and communities.

The Pact on Migration and Asylum presented by the Commission in September 2020 also aims to strengthen protection guarantees for people with special needs and ensure that women and girls living in fear of persecution or at risk of FGM their organs are entitled to international protection.

Athena Papakosta

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