The United Nations has raised concerns over the global fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) being undermined by families crossing borders to have girls undergo the procedure.
A report from the UN human rights office, published on Friday, found that FGM continues to persist worldwide despite bans, largely due to the “clandestine” practice of taking girls abroad to countries where the practice is legal or where laws criminalizing it are not enforced.
“Female genital mutilation is part of a continuum of gender-based violence and has no place in a human rights-respecting universe,” said UN rights chief Volker Turk, emphasizing the need to uproot the gender stereotypes and patriarchal norms that anchor and perpetuate the practice.
The report called for concerted global action to tackle FGM’s cross-border and transnational nature, particularly the phenomenon of “vacation cutting,” where families in Europe and North America take their daughters to their countries of origin to undergo the procedure during school holidays.
While most African countries have criminalized the practice, the report suggests that some are serving as “transnational FGM hubs,” with cutters even moving across borders to carry out the procedure.
Turk urged countries to address FGM’s root causes and consequences by harmonizing legal and policy frameworks and enforcing them effectively.
FGM is banned in more than 70 countries, at least 35 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank. However, the report noted that the exact number of girls subjected to cross-border or transnational FGM remains unknown due to its clandestine nature.
UNICEF estimates that more than 230 million girls and women have been subjected to genital mutilation, including over 144 million in Africa and 80 million in Asia. The report warned that if the practice continues at the current pace, an estimated 68 million girls will undergo FGM between 2015 and 2030.
