Female genital mutilation in Europe
An analysis of court cases

This study develops a comparative overview of recent FGM(Female Genital Mutilation) court cases within the EU, as well as an exploratory survey of transnational movements in relation to FGM. The legal aspects of 20 recent criminal court cases in Europe are analysed, and evidence about transnational movement to have FGM performed is assessed. The report is based on data collected by country experts in eleven European countries. Data include court decisions, migration background of groups from FGM-practising countries in the host countries, the process of FGMreporting, and stakeholders’ proposals and opinions regarding FGM. The report addresses the general legal context or framework to fight FGM in the eleven countries, and it briefly analyses the impact that the embracing of the due diligence standard could have, as a consequence of the signature of the Istanbul Convention by all the countries in the report. A finding of our study is the fact that the responses given by different countries to FGM are modelled by disparities of public prosecution systems in Europe. Calling upon state parties to apply the Istanbul Convention and accordingly modify existing provisions that limit their jurisdiction over FGM cases (art. 44) could have an impact on such procedural disparities, although further research is needed in this area

1.1 Aims of the overview
The recent reports from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE 2013a,
2013b)1 are the starting point of this research review, whose aim was twofold:
•
to make a comparative overview of recent FGM court cases within the EU;
•
to make an exploratory survey of transnational movement in relation to FGM.

It is a case about two girls, one born
in The Gambia and the other one in Spain. The girls lived in The Gambia between
2007 and 2009, while the parents stayed in Spain. In 2008, the mother was in-
formed about the initiation of a magistrate’s investigation and told that she must
notify the authorities when the girls returned to Spain. In 2010, a gynaecological
examination was performed, and no anomalies found. Half a year later, experts
detected a change in one of the girls, ‘an alteration to the external female genitals
that looked mutilated’ (Country report, Spain). It was estimated to have been af-
flicted at some point during those six months. The parents were each sentenced to
six years in prison.