The report highlights so-called “holiday cutting” among Western families who take girls to countries of origin to perform female genital mutilation.
The United Nations has warned that the global fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) is being undermined by families crossing borders to have girls undergo the procedure.
A report from the UN human rights office, released on Friday, found that female genital mutilation continues around the world despite bans, largely due to the “clandestine” practice of taking girls abroad to countries where the practice is legal or where laws that classify it as a crime are not applied. .
“Female genital mutilation is part of a continuum of gender-based violence and has no place in a universe that respects human rights,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement. Gender stereotypes and patriarchal norms that anchor and perpetuate the practice need to be eradicated, he added.
The office called for concerted global action to address cross-border and transnational female genital mutilation, focusing on so-called “holiday cutting,” particularly prevalent among families in Europe and North America, who take their daughters to their home countries to undergo to the procedure. during school holidays.
Although most countries in Africa have criminalized the practice, the report says some serve as “transnational centers for female genital mutilation.” In some cases, cutters cross borders to perform the procedure.
Turk called on countries to address the root causes and consequences of female genital mutilation by harmonizing legal and policy frameworks and enforcing them.
According to the World Bank, female genital mutilation is prohibited in more than 70 countries, at least 35 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Gambia – where government figures show that 73 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 have undergone genital mutilation – could be the first country to lift the ban.
The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, defines female genital mutilation as “the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”
It can cause serious health problems, such as infections, bleeding, infertility and childbirth complications, and impairs sexual pleasure.
The report says the exact number of girls who have undergone cross-border or transnational female genital mutilation is unknown due to its clandestine nature.
According to UNICEF, more than 230 million girls and women have undergone genital mutilation, including more than 144 million in Africa and more than 80 million in Asia.
“If the practice continues at the current rate, it is estimated that 68 million girls will undergo female genital mutilation between 2015 and 2030,” the report states.
