Female genital mutilation a reality in Europe

Female genital mutilation is a reality in Europe, with over 600,000 girls and women  having been subjected to it.

Transcript

00:00Female genital mutilation is a reality in Europe, 600,000 girls and women, mainly from

00:16Africa and Asia, have been subjected to it.

00:20Worldwide, the figure is around 230 million.

00:24FGM refers to the partial or total removal of female external genitals for non-medical

00:29reasons.

00:31Different ways of preventing this form of gender-based violence were explored at a conference

00:35held in the European Parliament.

00:37It would be wrong to say FGM is made in Europe.

00:40FGM can happen anywhere.

00:42People can have it done in their countries before they move over.

00:46People can be imported back to their countries to go and get cut.

00:50Some families are importing even the older cutters from their country to come and get

00:55cut in Europe.

00:56It can happen anywhere.

00:58That's the bottom line.

01:00It's a very harmful practice.

01:01It can happen anywhere.

01:02It needs to be eradicated.

01:06But despite progress being made in breaking the taboo, there is still a long way to go.

01:12Superstitions and social pressure remain deeply rooted in some societies, and families who

01:18oppose this practice risk ostracization.

01:23I do think that we are starting to really wake up and to know that something about it

01:30is wrong.

01:31Maybe not everyone, not every girl knows what specifically is wrong about it, but a lot

01:36of them, if not all of them, don't want this practice to be done to them.

01:41Given the scale of the issue, this Italian MEP calls for raising awareness on this subject

01:46in Europe, especially among education and healthcare workers.

01:50We absolutely need to train healthcare workers, because in the emergency room, in the hospitals,

01:58in the daily care provided by specialists, it is necessary to recognize signs of violence

02:05to report it and allow the woman not to be left alone, and therefore to better face her

02:11health and safety, but also her safety, tranquility and psychological serenity.

02:17The EU adopted a directive that requires member states to include FGM as a specific criminal

02:22offence in their penal codes.