FGM affects between 100 and 140 million girls and women throughout the world. Stronger partnerships at every level - local, national, regional and international - are vital to putting an end to the practice. Today,the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC) and the Human Rights Office, Geneva Department for Security, Police and the Environment (DSPE) presented data on FGM and described measures taken to curb this violation of the fundamental rights of women and girls.
Once exclusively associated with Africa, every year FGM threatens some three million girls in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and, within certain migrant communities, in Europe as well.
“The IAC broke the taboos surrounding FGM and empowered many women in the African countries to say No to FGM. It also persuaded men to join the campaigns and youth groups to organize events and declare their opposition to FGM. Religious leaders are now speaking out against FGM and have formed networks. Excisers are also trained to convert into agents of change”, said IAC Director Ms. Berhane Ras-Work.
IAC has lobbied for serious government involvement both in policy and action, but so far only 19 African countries have legislated against FGM. The African Union has adopted among other instruments the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted several resolutions regarding the eradication of FGM.
FGM and migration
The practice of FGM has spread with global migration and is now a reality in many destination countries in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. The European Parliament estimates that some 500,000 cut women live in Europe with about 180,000 women and girl migrants undergoing FGM or in danger of undergoing it each year. Adherence to FGM is particularly strong among migrant communities where traditionally only cut girls can hope for a good marriage and where non-compliance can lead to the stigmatization of a whole family. The physical and psychosocial consequences of FGM can affect the social, economic and cultural integration of migrant women and girls. Access to health services is also often jeopardized because of language and cultural barriers while healthcare practitioners do not always have the expertise to care for victims of FMG. For IOM, FGM clashes with the fundamental values of receiving countries and is not only an integration issue, but also a human rights, health and gender-based violence one.
“Traditional practices don’t die when a migrant’s boat or plane journey ends. Nevertheless, migration can be an important window of opportunity for change. With its partners, IOM is committed to eliminating FGM within a generation. However, this will only happen if practising migrant communities are fully included in efforts to end FGM,” said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing.
Prevention of FGM in Geneva
"Commemorating the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM on 6 February means not only better grasping what these practices are all about, but also consolidating our common determination to work together to the best of our ability to put an end to them. Helping women restore their dignity is a prerequisite for preserving ours”, said Ms. Isabel Rochat, Geneva State Counsellor, in charge of the Department for Security, Police and Environment.
Five years ago the Canton of Geneva started prevention work among migrant communities, after a report published by UNICEF claimed that some 1200 women living in Geneva could be concerned by the issue. So far no instances of the practice have come to light in Geneva, although some children were clearly mutilated during holidays in their native countries. Prevention remains crucial. Several steps have been taken within the FGM Prevention Programme in the Ethiopian, Somali, Eritrean and Sudanese communities and among health professionals.
Legislative measures against FGM
Today 19 African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia), and 11 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) have enacted laws or taken other specific legislative measures against FGM. In Switzerland, the Federal chambers have been seized of a bill intended specifically to crack down on acts of mutilation committed in the country and those committed abroad by Swiss residents.Four other countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America) have also legislated against FGM.
“To obtain results, it is important to pass laws. But if the laws don’t meet with general acceptance, there is a good chance that they won’t be enforced. That’s why information and awareness-raising are also essential”, said IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson. He quoted the example of Mali, a country where adopting a law was problematic, and where the IPU and the national parliament jointly set up a training workshop last June which helped to raise understanding among MPs. With the support of the IPU, parliamentary outreach visits are now being carried out in different parts of the country. The visits marked the start of a public sensitization and consultation process before a draft law on FGM is debated in parliament.
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