| Belgian and international law |
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Belgium:
All forms of female genital mutilation are condemned and punishable by law: removal of the clitoris, infibulation, etc.
Article 409 of the Criminal Code
Section 1. Any person who has practised, facilitated or encouraged any form of mutilation to the genital organs of a person of the female gender, with or without this person's consent, will be sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 3 to 5 years. Any attempt can incur imprisonment of 8 days to one year.
Section 2. If the mutilation is practised on a minor or is motivated by profit, it will incur a period of imprisonment of 5 to 7 years.
Professional secrecy may be waived for the purposes of protecting a young girl.
Article 458(a) of the Criminal Code
Any person who is bound by professional secrecy, be that due to status or profession, and discovers that an infringement of articles 409 (…) has been committed on a minor may, without prejudice to the obligations imposed on that person by article 422(a), inform the public prosecutor of that infringement, provided that this person has examined the victim or that the latter has stated in confidence to this person that a grave and imminent danger exists for the mental or physical integrity of the person concerned and that this person is unable, individually or with the help of a third party, to protect that integrity.
Article 422 of the Criminal Code
LThe offence of refusing assistance to a person in danger applies to any person, professional or ordinary citizen, who does not report the danger in which a young girl threatened with genital mutilation finds herself, whether that mutilation is planned in Belgium or in another country.
Article 21(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code
The limitation period of 10 years does not begin until the day the victim becomes 18 years of age.
Article10(b) of the Criminal Procedure Code
If the mutilation was practised on a minor, be that in Belgium or in another country, any person that participated in this procedure may be prosecuted in Belgium.
At an international level:
Female genital mutilation is punishable in many European countries, and also in Africa: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo, etc.
Various international conventions have been ratified by Belgium and by numerous other African countries:
Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1990)
Article 24:
States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1984):
Article 2:
States Parties undertake to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women.
African Charter on Human and People's Rights (1986):
Article 4:
Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.
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