- The Guardian,
- Thursday November 30 2000
In an impassioned speech before the European parliament, Anna Diamantopoulou, the EU's Greek commissioner for employment and social affairs, condemned the procedure as an appalling violation of fundamental human rights.
As many as 2m girls are considered to be at risk of genital mutilation every year. The painful operation sees all or part of the clitoris and other genitalia removed, without anaesthetic and in conditions that are usually unsanitary. Death, disability and sterility can be the result.
Female circumcision is practised in 28 African countries. In Somalia, it is done to 98% of women. Sudan, Djibouti, parts of the Arabian peninsula, and Democratic Republic of Congo, are among the places named in UN studies as practising ritual mutilation. The EU and the United Nations estimate that some 135m women have been circumcised.
UN experts believe that the practice is gradually being rolled back through legal action. Last year Senegal outlawed it, and the year before, Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Togo. Among other recent reformers are Ghana, Burkina Faso and Egypt.
"It is high time that member states, and indeed the EU as a whole, addressed the issue," Ms Diamantopoulou told the parliamentary hearing in Brussels. Some MEPs want EU states to recognises the threat of female circumcision as a reason for granting refugee status.
In a speech that will enrage proponents who argue that their cultural traditions require control of female sexuality and keeping girls virginal until marriage, the commissioner also called on EU member states to outlaw the procedure among African immigrant communities.
In Europe, laws banning female genital mutilation exist only in Britain, Norway and Sweden, Ms Diamantopoulou said. Britain, she noted, is the EU country with the highest number of female immigrants from cultures that practise circumcision - 300,000.
But it is her suggestion that EU development aid be linked to stamping out female circumcision in Africa which is likely to cause controversy. "We may consider making aid to recipient countries contingent on their commitment to fight the practice of female genital mutilation via legislation and education," she said.
Sensitive to accusations of western interference, she went out of her way to justify her position.
"Europe is not in the business of preaching and imposing its culture on other countries and nations. However, Europe must be very clear in defending its values which are built around justice, equality of the sexes and human rights," she said.
