PARLIAMENTARY CAMPAIGN "STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN":
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
| | Legislation and other national provisions: |
| Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus |
Country-specific information on the current state of national legislation dealing directly or indirectly with the issue of female genital mutulation reproduces the contents of the official communications received to date from national parliaments. Other reliable information, contained in the documents published by the United Nations and the World Health Organization, is also taken into consideration. Whenever necessary, it is specified that the IPU has not received any official information directly.
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| CAMEROON |
- Current status: Excision and circumcision are reportedly practised in the southwest and far north provinces where the practice is said to affect 100% of Muslim girls and 63.6% of Christian girls. According to the information available at WHO, such practices reportedly affect 20% of all Cameroonian women. However, the IPU has no first-hand official statistics or details on this subject.
- Legislation: The IPU has no information on the existence of specific legislation.
- Operational structure: National Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices.
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| CANADA |
- Current status: Female genital mutilation affects the girls and women of certain immigrant populations. However, the IPU has no first-hand official statistics or other details on this subject.
- Legislation: Article 268 of the Criminal Code (child prostitution, sex tourism involving children, criminal harassment and mutilation of female genital organs, amended by Bill C-27 of 27 April 1997 stipulates the following:
"Section 268
- (1) Every one commits an aggravated assault who wounds, maims, disfigures or endangers the life of the complainant.
(2) Every one who commits an aggravated assault is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
(3) For greater certainty, in this section, "wounds" or "maims" includes to excise, infibulate or mutilate, in whole or in part, the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris of a person, except where: (a) a surgical procedure is performed, by a person duly qualified by provincial law to practise medicine, for the benefit of the physical health of the person or for the purpose of that person having normal reproductive functions or normal sexual appearance or function; or (b) the person is at least eighteen years of age and there is no resulting bodily harm.(4) For the purposes of this section and section 265, no consent to the excision, infibulation or mutilation, in whole or in part, of the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris of a person is valid, except in the cases described in paragraphs (3)(a) and (b)."
Sub-Sectioin 1c) of Section 273.3 of the Criminal Code, amended by Bill C-27, further provides as follows:
"Section 273.3 -
(1) No person shall do anything for the purpose of removing from Canada a person who is ordinarily resident in Canada and who is: ... c) under the age of eighteen years, with the intention that an act be committed outside Canada that if it were committed in Canada would be an offence against section 155 or 159, subsection 160(2) or section 170, 171, 267, 268, 269, 271, 272 or 273 in respect of that person.
(2) Every person who contravenes this section is guilty of: a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years; or b) an offence punishable on summary conviction."
- Operational structure: The IPU has no information on this subject.
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| CAPE VERDE |
- Current status: Female genital mutilation is reportedly not practised in Cape Verde. However, the IPU has no first-hand official information on this subject.
- Legislation: The IPU has no information on the existence of specific legislation.
- Operational structure: not applicable.
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| CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC |
- Current status: Excision and circumcision are reportedly practised in Central African Republic. According to a survey available to the WHO, the prevalence was 43% in 1994/95, with the rate varying by region and ethnic group. Health Region IV was found to have the highest prevalence at 91% and, among ethnic groups, prevalence was greatest among the Banda and Mandjia at 84% and 71% respectively. While there was no significant difference between rural and urban dwellers, there was a significant difference between women with no education or with primary schooling (47%) and those with secondary education (23%). There is some indication that prevalence is declining, as it was found to be 53% among women aged 45-49 years and only 35% among women aged 15-19. However, the lower figure in the latter group may be partly due to the fact that nearly 10% of all cases of FGM are practised after the age of 15, so this age group may include women who have not yet undergone the procedure. In general, however, the majority of girls undergo genital mutilation between the ages of 7 and 15. However, the IPU has no first-hand official statistics or other details on this subject.
- Legislation: A law on female genital mutilation was promulgated in 1966. However, Parliament has not yet forwarded the reference and text of the law to the IPU.
- Operational structure: Programme on "Women, Nutrition and Development" introduced in 1989. The programme includes awareness-building campaigns on the harmful effects of excision.
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| CHAD |
- Current status: Excision and circumcision are practised in all of the country’s regions. Infibulation is moreover practised in the eastern party of the country, near Sudan. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence rate was 60% in 1991. However, the IPU has no first-hand official statistics or other details on this subject.
- Legislation: A law of 1995 prohibits female genital mutilation and provides for sanctions; however, Parliament has not yet sent the references and text of the law to the IPU.
- Operational structure: The IPU has no information on this subject.
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| CONGO |
| Updated on 9 February 2009 |
- Current status: As sexual mutilation and excision in particular are not part of the traditional culture in Congolese society, they constitute a marginal problem, contained for the greater part within West-African communities established in the country. Nevertheless, these practices are condemned and punished by law through provisions of the Criminal Code, notably its Article 309, and implementation of the international treaties ratified by Congo.
- Legislation: Articles 309, 310, 311 and 331 of the Congolese Criminal Code considers the questions of sexual mutilation and excision in the framework of other non-specified violent acts as offences.
Article 309
Any individual who voluntarily causes bodily harm or injury, or as is the case with any other violent act or means that result in illness or incapacity to work for more than 20 days, shall be liable to serve a prison sentence of between two and five years and pay a fine of between 4,000 and 480,000 francs.
Such individuals may, in addition, be deprived of the rights listed in Article 42 of the present Code for a minimum of five years and a maximum of ten years, starting from the day they start serving their sentence.
In cases where the above-mentioned acts of violence are followed by mutilation, amputation or the inability to use a limb, blindness, loss of an eye, or other permanent disabilities, the accused shall be liable to imprisonment.
(…)
Article 310
In cases of premeditation or ambush, the punishment, if the act resulted in death, shall be life imprisonment with hard labour; if the violent acts were followed by mutilation, amputation or inability to use a limb, blindness, loss of an eye, or other permanent disabilities, the punishment shall be a prison term with hard labour;
(…)
Article 311
In cases where bodily harm or injury inflicted, or other violent acts or means, do not result in any illness or incapacity to work as provided for under Article 309 above, the accused shall be liable to a prison term of between six days and two years and a fine of between 4,000 and 48,000 francs or to only one of the two sanctions.
(…)
- Operational structure: State institutions and non-governmental organizations take this situation seriously via the Ministry for the promotion of women and the involvement of women in development; the central statistics office; the general directorate for human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular the division for the protection of national minorities and vulnerable social groups; the public prosecutor’s office; the national women’s rights committee; and the Congolese Association for combating sexual violence (ACOLVF ), etc.
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| CÔTE D'IVOIRE |
- Current status: Excision and circumcision are reportedly practised in Côte d’Ivoire. According to a national demographic and health survey, the prevalence of FGM was 43% in 1994. This varied from 31% in Abidjan to 57% in the rural savannah region; however, overall prevalence was 45%. FGM was found to be much more prevalent among the Muslim population (80%) than among Christians (16%). The most striking difference was between women with no education (55%) and those primary or secondary education (24%). There does appear to be a slight trend towards reduced prevalence, as the rates for age groups 25-29 and 30-34 were 47% while the rate for those aged 15-19 was 35%. The majority of girls appear to have undergone FGM before the age of 10. However, the IPU has no first-hand official statistics or other details on this subject.
- Legislation: A law on FGM was reportedly adopted in Côte d'Ivoire in 1998; however, Parliament has not yet sent the references and text of the law to the IPU.
- Operational structure: Such a structure reportedly exists in Côte d’Ivoire. However, the IPU has no first-hand official information on this subject.
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| CYPRUS |
- Current status: Female genital mutilation is not practiced in Cyprus.
- Legislation: There are no laws or legislation that regulate such practices.
- Operational structure: Not applicable
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Female genital mutilation: table of contents