A study has revealed that over 35,000 girls in Belgium have either been victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) or are at risk of becoming victims, a number that has steadily increased in recent years.
The figures come from a report presented by FPS Public Health and the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men and presented alongside Belgian Secretary of State for Gender Equality Sarah Schlitz, who revealed significant growth in those who are victims or at risk of being victims of FGM.
A previous study from 2016 claimed that 17,575 women and girls were “mostly likely circumcised” while 8,342 were at risk of FGM. According to the figures, the number of victims and those at risk has steadily increased since records began in 2007, newspaper 7sur7 reports.
The women and girls most at risk tend to come from migrant backgrounds from either Somalia, Egypt or Guinea with most living in Flanders, followed by Brussels and then Wallonia.
Of the 35,000 women nd girls at risk of or victims of FGM, more than a third are minors under the age of 18.
Fabienne Richard, one of the authors of the report, wanted that there was a crucial need to inform communities as the summer holidays were a high-risk period for FGM as many families go on holiday to their countries of origin.
Similar concerns have been expressed in Sweden by Sabina Landstedt, a member of the activist group Never Forget Pela and Fadime (GAPF), who state last year that girls were being flown overseas for FGM and child marriages.
The issue of child marriages was raised again earlier this month as some raised concerns that children may be forced to marry if they are taken overseas over the summer holidays. In one Swedish municipality, as many as one in four young girls aged between 15 and 16 said they were not allowed dot choose who they wanted to marry.