(Yle) Some 80 girls in Finland reported having undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a school health survey by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, THL.
The agency’s 2019 school health survey asked over 35,000 girls in upper secondary and vocational schools about the subject and found that Somali-born girls most often spoke of the practice.
The THL said that this was the first survey to ask teen girls resident in Finland about their experiences with FGM. THL specialist researcher Reija Klemetti said that the results suggest that the practice is declining in Finland.
The THL arrived at its conclusion after comparing the results of the survey to data from Finland’s Register of Births for 2017 and 2018.