by Jules Gomes, Daily Signal
France has launched an advertising campaign to combat the surge in female genital mutilation, as statistics show that 1 in 10 girls living in districts with large Muslim communities are being coerced into this cruel practice.
The three-months long campaign, which coincides with the school holiday season when parents are most likely to take their daughters abroad for the procedure, will conclude on Sept. 2.
Hoardings on bus shelters are warning parents: “Female genital mutilation should never be part of the journey.” The advertisement features an image of a young girl whose genitals have been mutilated.
The charity “Excision, parlons-en!” (Let’s Talk About Female Genital Mutilation!) is offering an awareness kit as it partners with the French government. According to statistics provided by the nongovernmental organization, 180,000 girls risk being “cut” each year in Europe.
The prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis in the Paris region, which has an estimated Muslim population of 800,000 people out of 1.8 million inhabitants (44.4% of the population), has the highest rate of female genital mutilation, with 1 in 10 women at risk of being victims of the procedure, in 2026.
A study conducted at the André-Grégoire Hospital in Montreuil, a suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, found that nearly 12% of women giving birth were affected by female genital mutilation.
According to Excision, parlons-en!, 500,000 women have already been forced to undergo the procedure across Europe. France has the highest number of victims (60,000), with Belgium (13,000) coming second.
In 2019, France had 139,312 adult women and 10,688 underage girls who had undergone female genital mutilation, according to the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women against Violence and the Fight against Human Trafficking.