Qualification Directive (recast)

The recast Qualification Directive (Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted) clarifies the grounds for granting international protection and is designed to make asylum decisions more robust. The Directive ensures eligibility for international protection for women and girls with a well-founded fear of persecution or facing the risk of suffering FGM. Apart from the victims themselves, it extends international protection to parents fearing persecution or facing a real risk of suffering serious harm because they refuse to consent to their child undergoing FGM. It further lists the criteria for subsidiary protection to include serious harm, such as torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (which FGM is considered to be under international jurisprudence), therefore qualifying FGM survivors for this type of protection.

The End FGM Network has developed a Guide on FGM in the EU Asylum Procedures.