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