European Union calls for end of Female Genital Mutilation

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on 6 February 2025, the European Commission and the High Representative/Vice-President Kallas reaffirm the EU’s strong commitment to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation in Europe and across the world:

“Female Genital Mutilation is a violation of human rights and a heinous form of violence against women and girls. It is estimated that over 200 million women worldwide, including at least 600,000 in Europe, have undergone female genital mutilation. It is a means to assert domination and social control over women and girls. The practice has severe life-long physical and psychological consequences. There is absolutely no medical or ethical justification for it and it has no place in any society.

We are committed to fighting and eradicating Female Genital Mutilation, around the world and in the EU. We adopted last year the EU Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, which requires Member States to include Female Genital Mutilation as a specific criminal offence in their penal codes, to establish prevention measures and trainings for health professionals, provide survivors with specific specialist support, and collect data on reported cases of Female Genital Mutilation.

The EU has been supporting projects to combat FGM worldwide, engaging with communities, transforming social norms through collective action. Since 2016, the EU has been working with partners on programmes such as the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to finally put an end to this horrific practice.

We remain committed to working with governments, civil society, and international organisations to ensure that the practice of FGM is universally condemned and eradicated. The European Union will persist in collaborating with global partners to adopt a zero-tolerance stance on Female Genital Mutilation, to build a world where every girl and woman can live free from all forms of violence and discrimination.”

Background

Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons, as defined by the World Health Organization. It is estimated that 190,000 girls in 17 European countries alone are at risk of being mutilated while 600,000 women are living with the consequences of FGM in Europe. Every year at least 20,000 women and girls are coming to Europe from FGM-risk countries as asylum seekers.

The 1989 UN Convention on the rights of the child, to which all EU Member States are party, condemns violence against children. In 2021, the Commission adopted a comprehensive EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child to reinforce the EU’s commitment to safeguarding children from FGM in EU Member States and globally, and emphasise the importance of education, awareness-raising, and legal measures to eradicate FGM practices, with concrete actions and recommendations to end all forms of violence against children. As a commitment in the EU strategy on the rights of the child, the Commission adopted a Recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child on 23 April 2024. Promoting a culture of zero-tolerance for violence against children requires to close the gap between international standards, political commitments, and action. The Recommendation calls on Member States to both strengthen their child protection systems to tackle all forms of violence against children, including FGM, and to ensure that their external action contributes to the fight of all forms of violence against children, including FGM.

The European Commission is firmly dedicated to eradicating all forms of gender-based violence, including FGM, both within the EU and beyond its borders as outlined in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024, the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the EU Gender Action Plan III, extended until 2027. Aligned with these policies and our dedication to eradicating FGM both in Europe and worldwide, we collaborate and provide support to survivors, impacted families and communities, as well as experts and policymakers. Since 2016, the EU has been working with partners like UNFPA/UNICEF on programs such as the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. While the first phase of Spotlight ended, a new generation of programmes is launched to sustain the achievements and end all forms of violence against women and girls. This includes a successor programme to the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme.

Criminalisation of FGM is required under the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention. In October 2023, the European Union acceded the Convention. With this accession, the EU is obligated to adhere to ambitious and comprehensive standards aimed at preventing and addressing violence against women in the realms of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement, and its public administration practices.

In May 2024, the European Union adopted the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence which requires the criminalisation of FGM as a self-standing offence. Member States shall transpose the Directive into national law by 14 June 2027.

The Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) offers funding for projects tackling gender-based violence and violence against children, including FGM. In 2025, €23 million will be allocated through the DAPHNE strand to fund national and transnational initiatives aimed at combating and preventing violence against children and gender-based violence within and outside domestic and intimate settings, as well as online. These funds will also support efforts to protect and assist survivors of gender-based violence and violence against children, including strengthening child protection systems.

For More Information

Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence

European Commission webpages on Ending gender-based violence

Factsheet – Myth-busting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Research from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) on prevalence of female genital mutilation

Recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child | European Commission