Evaluating the impact of existing legislation in Europe with regard to Female Genital Mutilation. Spanish National Report (2016)
This study is a Descriptive research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics:
Author(s): Javier de Lucas,María José Añón Roig,María Helena Bedoya,Isabel María Fernández,Fernando Flores Giménez,Angeles Galiana Saura,José García Añón,Adriana Kaplan,Antoni Llabrés i Fuster,Maria Isabel Martínez,Ruth Mestre i Mestre,Javier Mira Benavent,José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes,Maria Olivé Elias. Mario Ruiz Sanz,Ángeles Solanes Corella,Carmen Tomas y Valiente,Francisco Torres Pérez and Ana Valero Heredia
FGM/C Type(s): All
Health area of focus: None.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of existing legislation in Europe with regard to Female Genital Mutilation
Study Population: police,prosecutors,judges,doctors,nurses,social assistants and immigrants
Findings: Among the different professionals,there was some general knowledge about the connection between mutilation and the serious body injury offence fixed in the Penal Code. Most of the socio-sanitary professionals preferred the intervention of social services. In the group of police officers there existed a highlighted tendency to act at the court’s level. In Catalonia,among the Autonomous Catalan police (Mossos d’esquadra) there existed some police officers in charge of pursuing FGM practices. However,as far as other police sectors were concerned (Civil Guard,Local Police,State Police),there was ignorance about the existence of practices of FGM,about the different ways of FGM,and the scarce preparation before the possible accusation of a practice of FGM. Among the police,police bodies in the districts of Girona and Barcelona had a detailed knowledge about the rites of FGM. This was due to the succession of cases and to the larger number of population from areas where FGM was usually practised; and also because they had participated and had at their disposal the protocol for the prevention of the FGM. All the interviewed judicial professionals,knew more or less about the applicable laws in the case of FGM in Spain,and they agreed on the need of juridical intervention in order to prevent or punish FGM. The Catalan areas insisted on the need that the intervention must be preventive,and only taken to court as a last resort,because it initially seemed that it is not a widespread practice and,for that reason,specific regulation wre not necessary but can be included in the general types of injuries set forth in the Penal Code
Geographical coverage
Region(s):Southern Europe
Country(ies):Spain