About 11,000 girls and women in Austria are affected by genital mutilation. Another 3,000 people are at risk, as a study from the Medical University of Vienna has now shown. For Minister of Women and Integration Susanne Raab (ÖVP), this is a “criminal offense” that has become a “sad reality”.
According to the study, half of the women in Austria who underwent FGM/C (female genital mutilation/cutting) are from Egypt, and another third are from Somalia. In short, the girls and women whose mothers come from countries where genital mutilation is practiced are at risk. This currently applies to more than 33,000. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 200 million girls and women worldwide are affected by genital mutilation.
“FGM is a brutal form of violence against women and victims often struggle with the physical and psychological pain of this crime throughout their lives,” said Minister of Women and Integration Susanne Raab (ÖVP). Genital mutilation is “a criminal offense and completely unacceptable.”
Coordination center and outpatient clinics
The Federal Chancellery commissioned the study that has now been published and has already set up a coordination office in 2022. Information and prevention are provided, for example through consultations and workshops. Men-specific advice is also given, as measures to protect women in patriarchal structures can only be successful in the long term.
“We must do everything we can to combat this form of cultural violence and, especially, protect young girls (…),” Raab said. Graz and Linz already have their own FGM clinics that treat affected girls and women as widely as possible.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
