11,000 people affected

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Minister for Women and Integration Susanne Raab (ÖVP)(Bild: APA/Eva Manhart)

Around 11,000 girls and women in Austria are affected by genital mutilation. Up to 3,000 more are at risk, according to a study by the Medical University of Vienna. For Women's and Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP), this is a "criminal offense" that has become a "sad reality".

According to the study, half of the women in Austria who have undergone FGM/C (Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting) come from Egypt and a further third from Somalia. Generally speaking, girls and women whose mothers come from a country where FGM is practiced are at risk. This currently applies to more than 33,000. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 200 million girls and women worldwide are affected by FGM.

"FGM is a brutal form of violence against women and the victims often struggle their whole lives with the physical and psychological pain of this crime," said Women's and Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP). Genital mutilation is "a criminal offense and completely unacceptable."

FGM is a brutal form of violence against women and the victims often struggle with the physical and psychological pain of this crime for the rest of their lives.

Frauenministerin Susanne Raab (ÖVP)

Coordination center and outpatient clinics
The Federal Chancellery commissioned the recently published study and set up a coordination office as early as 2022. This will provide information and prevention, for example through counseling sessions and workshops. Male-specific advice will also be offered, as measures to protect women in patriarchal structures can only lead to long-term success.

"We must do everything we can to combat this form of culturally induced violence and protect young girls in particular (...)", said Raab. Graz and Linz already have their own FGM outpatient clinics, which treat affected girls and women as comprehensively as possible.