(Brussels Times) Around 15,000 women in Belgium have been reported as victims of genital mutilation (FGM) and another 8,000 girls are still at risk, the Centre for Secular Action said on Friday, the eve of International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
However, these figures are believed to underrepresent the problem, as Belgium lacks official data and most mutilations are hidden from view.
In 2018, 17,575 girls and women living in Belgium had reportedly been excised live in Belgium, whilst another 8,342 are intact but at risk of excision, according to GAMS Belgium, a group that fights for the abolition of this practice.
It further reported that every year, 1,419 excised women give birth in a Belgian maternity hospital, requiring appropriate care.
