Female genital mutilation and international protection: Towards a human rights-based and gender-sensitive Common European Asylum System - Position Paper (2016)

Our position paper on "Female genital mutilation and international protection: Towards a human rights-based and gender-sensitive Common European Asylum System" was released in November 2016.

Concerned about the human rights situation of asylum-seekers and other migrants in the European Asylum System, especially women’s and girls’, the End FGM European Network decided to dedicate a large part of its work in 2016 to international protection, in order to assess the discrepancies of the EU Asylum System.

We want human rights to be at the centre of the asylum process, and Survivors of Female Genital Mutilation, human rights activists speaking out against FGM, women, girls and the families in fear of FGM to receive the protection they are entitled to in the asylum process and as beneficiaries of international protection in EU Member States.

An assessment of the treatment of gender-related claims in EU Member States, including FGM-related claims, shows disparities between Member States, but also at national level between law, policies, theory and practice, and even between asylum officers. Advocating for a fair and sensitive asylum process across the EU for all asylum-seekers, especially for FGM Survivors, women and girls at risk and their relatives, and human rights defenders opposing the practice, this position paper addresses a limited scope of issues impacting on FGM-related claims in the asylum system, namely country of origin information and credibility and vulnerability assessment, and provides related recommendations.