Brussels, 06/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on 6 February, human rights and gender equality NGOs called on the European Union to put into practice all its promises on tackling FGM and other forms of violence against women, as set out in 2010 in its five-year strategy on promoting gender equality in Europe.
Since that strategy was put in place, there has been little “coherent” action and no “structured attempt” at European level to combat violence against women, one of the most serious examples of which is FGM, regret Amnesty International and the European Women's Lobby (EWL). The two NGOs believe that a first step would be for all member states to sign the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which has been available for signature since May 2011 but which fewer than half of EU countries have so far signed.
Genital mutilation is not a problem that only exists outside the EU: according to European Parliament estimates, 500,000 women and girls living in Europe are suffering the lifelong consequences of FGM. In most cases, young girls are taken abroad during their summer holidays and are forced to undergo genital mutilation.
Alongside this extreme practice, however, violence against women is a widespread structural phenomenon: almost every woman in the EU will experience some form of violence in her lifetime, the NGOs point out. “We know that the EU has the means to end violence against women and deliver a strategy to guarantee all women the right to live free from violence; so what are we waiting for?” rails Cécile Gréboval, EWL Secretary General. (MD/transl.rt)