Head of international Jewish lawmakers' group calls for world-wide ban of female genital mutilation

07 February 2012

On the occasion of the International Day against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), the chairwoman of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians, Italian lawmaker Fiamma Nirenstein, has spoken out against what she called the “barbaric practice which, according to the World Health Organization’s estimates, has hit over 140 million women worldwide and is imposed every year on three million babies and girls under 15 years of age.”

FGM is a common practice in 28 African states and in some areas in the Middle East. It is a growing trend within immigrant communities in Europe and North America. Data from the European Parliament reveals that around 500,000 women residing in Europe have undergone this form of violence and approximately 180,000 women every year risk facing this destiny.

“The International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians univocally condemned this abuse against women, which results in traumatic physical and psychological damage,” Nirenstein declared in a statement, adding: “It is necessary to work with immigrant communities in Europe to eradicate the primitive conception that a non-infibulated woman is impure; it is also necessary to call on the international community to take joint action by supporting the international campaign for adopting at the UN General Assembly a resolution banning the FGM around the world.

“As international Jewish lawmakers, we are committed to fighting this phenomenon by promoting legislative initiatives in our countries aimed at eradicating this cruel practice, which wipes off women’s dignity and our shared democratic values,” she said.