Move to Eliminate FGM in Europe Print
AWEPA applauds Dutch State Secretary Jet Bussemaker of Public Health for her move to clamp down on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) being practiced on girls of African descent who are living in Holland.


It is as yet unknown how many girls are circumcised every year in the Netherlands; estimates put it at up to 500. Worldwide an estimated three million girls undergo circumcisions per year, and up to 500,000 girls and women living in the European Union are affected or threatened by FGM.

Ms. Bussemaker wants the Dutch government to follow the example given by France, which until now is the only country in which legal proceedings in connection with FGM have ever been instituted. Parents of high risk girls sign a contract before travelling to their country of origin stating that they will not circumcise their daughter/s and are punished if they break the contract. An added bonus is that when parents show the contract to family it will also help raise awareness about the harmfulness of it in their country of origin.

AWEPA encourages our Sections through Europe to see what can be done in their country to help eliminate this harmful practice and help raise awareness, something which most European countries hardly invest in to date.

Click here to read "Parents to sign agreement against genital mutilation," NRC Handelsblad, 29 January 2009.

 
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