Abstract
BackgroundFemale genital mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice prevalent in 35 countries, mainly in Africa, as well as in some Middle Eastern countries and a few Asian countries. FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or complete resection of, or other injury to, external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. The practice of FGM has spread to Western countries due to migration. The European Institute for Gender Equality recommend that FGM be combatted by nationally coordinated efforts through implementation of national action plans, guidelines for professionals as well as comprehensive research in the field. FGM was outlawed in Denmark 2003, but no national actions plan has been implemented. Instead, the task of combatting FGM is currently under the responsibility of local governments in the form of the 98 municipalities. The aim of this study is to investigate the Danish municipalities’ efforts to prevent FGM on the local level, and whether these initiatives are in accordance with international recommendations and standards.MethodsAll 98 Danish municipalities were invited to respond to a questionnaire regarding FGM in their respective municipalities. The inclusion process and questionnaire was designed after a pilot study, which included 29 municipalities. The questionnaire consisted of four overall areas of focus: “action plan”, “registration”, “information material” and “preventive initiatives”. Demographic data were gathered from the 2017 census by Statistics Denmark. Risk countries were defined as countries with a tradition for FGM, identified from the 2016 UNICEF definition.ResultsA total of 67 municipalities participated in the study. At the time of census, 1.8% of the Danish population was immigrants with origins in risk countries. A total of 10.4% of the responding municipalities indicated to have implemented a specific action plan against FGM. A total of 7,5% had implemented specific preventive initiatives against FGM. Registration of reported FGM cases were indicated to be performed in 73.1% of the responding municipalities; however, only 17.9% stated to perform registration of FGM specifically as such, and not as general child abuse.ConclusionsOur study shows that the current situation of FGM registration and prevention being under local administrative responsibility in the 98 Danish municipalities has led to a severe lack of coordinated public initiative against FGM.
Highlights
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice prevalent in 35 countries, mainly in Africa, as well as in some Middle Eastern countries and a few Asian countries
The European Institute for Gender Equality recommends that FGM should be combatted by nationally coordinated preventive efforts in the form of, among other things, a national action plan
FGM was outlawed in Denmark in 2003, but no national action plan has been implemented
Summary
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice prevalent in 35 countries, mainly in Africa, as well as in some Middle Eastern countries and a few Asian countries. The practice is described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as follows: “Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons (...) FGM is recognized internationally as a human rights violation It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women” [2]. In 2013, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) published an official recommendation for Denmark to define and implement a national action plan such as “national guidelines for professionals across a variety of sectors as well as coordination of the effort to combat FGM. The 98 Danish municipalities individually administrate the responsibility of combatting FGM on a local level
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