The right to be girls. Dossier on Female Genital Mutilation
Il diritto di essere bambine. Dossier sulle Mutilazioni Genitali Femminili
Fondazione l’Albero della Vita collected data on the number of students integrated in the Italian school system who originate from countries where FGM has been documented. The rationale for collecting data from the statistical office of the Ministry of Education, University and Research relates to the fact that schools are attended by almost all children born to immigrants in regular and irregular situation due to a policy to stimulate access to education.
In total, in the school year of 2010/2011, there were 25,203 girls registered in Italian schools who originate from FGM-risk countries. As done in previous Italian prevalence studies, the ‘extrapolation-of-FGM-practising-countries-prevalence-data-method’ was used, which indicated that 11,038 girls are at risk. A percentage (30 %) referring to the reduction of the practice between mothers and daughters in the countries of origin[1] was then subtracted from the latter result, indicating that 7,727 girls at risk of undergoing FGM in Italy.
[1] Although the influence of migration was not assessed in the present study, the authors sustain that the higher the level of integration of a family with origins in FGM-risk countries, the higher the probability to abandon the practice. The level of integration can be measured through the integration of migrants in the labour market, the increase of the level of education of women, the integration of minors in the school system, the access to health and social services, and the participation in the life of the host country.
Data Collection
Author(s)
Fondazione l’Albero della Vita
Study population
Female students integrated in the Italian school system aged 3-18.
Prevalence data on FGM
7,727 girls in Italy are at risk of undergoing FGM
Disaggregated data per country of origin
30 countries
Other disaggregation
Disaggregated by level of education.
Limitations of study
As a limitation of this research, the authors recognise that only girls that are registered in the Italian school system were considered for the estimation (i.e. those that are still not attending any school and those who stopped studying after concluding the mandatory education (6-16 years old) were not counted).