About 50 women from the African diaspora have called for an end to female genital mutilation and urged the Belgian government and the European Commission to pressure African countries such as Ghana and Guinea to stop the practice.
At a demonstration at Carrefour de l’Europe in Brussels, campaign group GAMS said 12,000 girls in Belgium are currently at risk of female genital mutilation during visits to their families’ countries of origin. It said 24,000 African women in Belgium have already undergone the practice.
The protesters warned that many women from African countries, including those living in Belgium, remain at risk and said urgent action is needed to stop it.
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Federal PS MP Lydia Mutyebele Ngoi criticised both Belgium and the European Commission for failing to do enough to increase pressure on the countries concerned.
“Many women in Belgium have experienced this or remain at risk,” she told Belga on Saturday. “There must be an urgent change in attitudes among the public. But the authorities must also act and apply diplomatic pressure. We are fighting this battle both in the streets and in parliament.”
GAMS director Fabienne Richard made the appeal on the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child. She said the practice is still being carried out in Mali and other African countries, adding that women across Europe are also taking to the streets to demand an end to female genital mutilation.
Richard said the practice is often rooted in the belief among some men that they must control women’s bodies. She said it is linked to male domination and attempts to restrict women’s sexuality.
She added that female genital mutilation is often defended on religious grounds, even though, she said, it is mentioned in neither the Quran nor the Bible.
