female genital mutilation laws by country female genital mutilation laws by country the legal status of female genital mutilation (fgm), also known as female genital cutting (fgc), differs widely across the world. this article is about laws concerning female genital mutilation. for the legal status of male circumcision, see circumcision and law. for the percentage of the population that have undergone fgm, see prevalence of female genital mutilation. overview of issues geographic perspective some states in somalia have banned female genital mutilation. specific criminal provision or national law prohibiting fgm general criminal provision that might be used to prosecute fgm partial or subnational fgm criminalisation, or unclear legal status fgm not criminalised no data fgm legislation by u.s. state: state law criminalises fgm state law does not criminalise fgm in international law, there is a consensus that female genital mutilation is a human rights violation that needs to be criminalised and eradicated by all states. international human rights instruments to that effect include global and regional treaties, conventions, protocols, declarations, resolutions and recommendations such as cedaw committee general recommendation no. 14 (1990),: 11 maputo protocol article 5 (2003),: 24 the cairo declaration on the elimination of fgm (cdefgm, 2003),: 21 istanbul convention article 38 (2011),: 35 sustainable development goal 5.3 (2015),: 19 the east african community prohibition of female genital mutilation act (eac act, 2016): 20–21 and united nations human rights council resolution no. 38/61 (2018).: 19 global efforts to end fgm, including criminalisation, have long focused on africa, where most countries that have traditionally practiced fgm are located and anti-fgm campaigns have been quite successful in the 1990s through 2010s, but have long under-appreciated traditionally fgm-practicing countries in asia and immigrant communities in countries with no fgm tradition. a march 2020 report by end fgm european network, u.s. end fgm/c network and equality now found that fgm was practiced in at least 92 countries across all continents, while 51 of them had a law that specifically criminalised fgm.: 11 fgm was illegal in 22 of the 28 most fgm-prevalent countries in africa in september 2018. sudan criminalised fgm in april 2020. some western countries, where fgm has not been traditionally practiced but where immigrants from traditionally fgm-practicing countries have moved to in the 20th and 21st century, have also criminalised fgm (13 countries as of november 2008). by 2013, fgm had been criminalised in all 27 member states of the european union (including the united kingdom) and croatia.: 45 despite international reports to the contrary,: 45 : 26 female genital mutilation has been explicitly criminalised in the netherlands since 1 february 2006, namely in the then articles 5.3 and 5a.1 of the dutch criminal code (wetboek van strafrecht), and the statute of limitations was increased on 1 july 2009 by not starting until the day after the fgm victim's 18th birthday. as of 25 july 2020, genital mutilation of female persons under age 18 is punishable in the netherlands, including when committed abroad by dutch citizens, foreigners who later obtain dutch citizenship or foreigners with a regular place of residence or stay in the netherlands, as a form of (aggravated) assault (potentially premeditated) under articles 300 to 303 per article 7.d and article 71.3 of the dutch criminal code. the maximum punishment is 12 years imprisonment (or 15 years if the victim dies). the penalty can be increased by a third if the perpetrator(s) were (a) family member(s) or the life companion of the victim (article 304.1) or if the victim was underage (article 304.2). in the united states, fgm was criminalised federally in 1996 and in 17/50 states during 1994–2006. however, the federal law criminalising fgm was declared unconstitutional by a michigan court in november 2018, mostly because the judge found that the federal government did not have the authority to legislate on the issue, and that the u.s. states should. at the time of the ruling, 27 states had specifically criminalised fgm, and the court case stimulated the other states to do so as well, both during and after the trial. by march 2020, the practice was illegal in 35/50 states; by may 2020, fgm was banned in 38/50 u.s. states. on 5 january 2021, the stop fgm act of 2020 was enacted, which considers fgm 'a form of child abuse, gender discrimination, and violence', empowering federal authorities to prosecute people who 'carry out or conspire to carry out fgm' and increasing the maximum prison sentence from 5 to 10 years. this replaced the 1996 law that was declared unconstitutional in 2018. at the time of signing, 11 out of the 50 u.s. states still had no state ban on fgm. legal methods the way in which legislation (and usually criminalisation) of fgm is enacted, differs from country to country. some countries' constitutions ban fgm, others have adopted specific laws criminalising fgm, others have subsumed prohibitions on fgm in wider criminal legislation on either child protection, violence against women, sexual violence, or physical assault.: 45 in eu member states, there is a trend to criminalise fgm in specific rather than general criminal law provisions; by 2013, 10 states of 28 (including croatia and the uk) had done so.: 45 by march 2020, estonia, germany, malta and portugal had also introduced explicit provisions criminalising fgm, so that 14 out of the current 27 eu member states have specific anti-fgm legislation.: 25–26 indian minister for women and child development maneka gandhi said in 2017 that the 1860 indian penal code, the 1973 criminal procedure code and the 2012 protection of children from sexual offences act (pocso act) could be invoked to prosecute fgm cases and that a specific law to criminalise fgm was not necessary. cross-border fgm and extraterritoriality sometimes fgm is performed across the border in a country where it is still legal in order to avoid prosecution in one's country of residence (for example, in mali by burkina faso residents or in somalia by kenya residents).: 48 as of september 2018, guinea bissau, kenya and uganda were the only countries in africa that criminalised and punished cross-border fgm.: 49 in the european union, legislators have applied the legal principle of extraterritoriality to prosecute the practice of fgm when it is committed outside of a member state's territory to girls living in the eu who had been cut or are at risk of being cut in their or their parents' country of birth while on holidays or visits abroad.: 45 laws by country country criminalised since notes australiaspecific criminal provision: 25 criminalised in 6/8 states during 1994–7 as of november 2008. austriaspecific criminal provision: 25 specific criminal law provision.: 25 bahrainnoas of march 2020.: 38 belgiumspecific criminal provision: 25 2000specific criminal law provision.: 25 beninspecific anti-fgm law: 22 2003specific national anti-fgm law which prohibits fgm.: 22 bruneinoas of march 2020.: 38 bulgariageneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 burkina fasospecific criminal provision: 22 1996specific criminal law provision.: 22 cameroonspecific criminal provision: 22 as of september 2018. canadaspecific criminal provision: 38 1997specific criminal law provision.: 38 central african republicspecific criminal provision: 22 1966as of september 2018. chadnoa 2002 bill banning fgm hasn't yet been enacted as of march 2020.: 22 colombianosome native tribes (emberá, arhuaco, koguis) are known to practice fgm, but there is no law against it as of march 2020.: 32 côte d’ivoirespecific criminal provision: 22 1998as of september 2018. croatiaspecific criminal provision: 25 specific criminal law provision.: 25 cyprusspecific criminal provision: 25 2003specific criminal law provision.: 25 czech republicgeneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 denmarkspecific criminal provision: 25 2003specific criminal law provision.: 25 djiboutispecific criminal provision: 22 1994as of september 2018. dr congospecific criminal provision: 38 specific criminal law provision.: 38 egyptspecific criminal provision: 22 2008as of september 2018. eritreaspecific anti-fgm law: 22 2007specific national anti-fgm law which prohibits fgm.: 22 estoniaspecific criminal provision: 25 specific criminal law provision.: 25 ethiopiaspecific criminal provision: 22 2004as of september 2018. finlandgeneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 francegeneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision,: 45 has been used successfully to prosecute fgm cases.: 25 the gambiaspecific criminal provision: 22 2015specific criminal law provision.: 22 georgiaspecific criminal provision: 38 specific criminal law provision.: 38 germanyspecific criminal provision: 25 specific criminal law provision.: 25 ghanaspecific criminal provision: 22 1994specific criminal law provision.: 22 greecegeneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 guineaspecific criminal provision: 22 1965new law enacted in 2000. specific criminal law provision.: 22 guinea bissauspecific anti-fgm law: 22 specific national anti-fgm law which prohibits fgm.: 22 cross-border fgm also criminalised.: 49 hungarygeneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 icelandspecific criminal provision2005general penal code article 218 a. punishment up to 6 years imprisonment, up to 16 years in aggravated cases. indiageneral criminal provision1860supposedly criminalised, but not specifically mentioned, by 1860 indian penal code, 1973 criminal procedure code and 2012 pocso act. indonesiaunclear2006, 14criminalised in 2006, medicalised in 2010, then recriminalised in 2014 but without punishments. present legal status unclear. iranspecific criminal provision criminalised by the islamic penal code of 2013. article 663 explicitly mentions the following: "mutilating or injuring either side of a woman's genitals shall carry the diya penalty equal to half of the full diya. mutilating or injuring parts of the genitals shall have a proportionate penalty based on the level of injury." additionally, article 269 of the islamic penal code of 1991 criminalises "intentional mutilation or amputation" without explicitly mentioning fgm. iraqspecific criminal provision: 22 specific criminal law provision (in the kurdistan region).: 22 irelandspecific criminal provision: 25 2012specific criminal law provision:: 25 the criminal justice (female genital mutilation) act 2012. israelnoas of march 2020.: 32 italyspecific anti-fgm law: 25 2005specific national anti-fgm law which prohibits fgm.: 25 jordannoas of march 2020.: 38 kenyaspecific anti-fgm law: 22 2001specific national anti-fgm law which prohibits fgm.: 22 cross-border fgm also criminalised.: 49 kuwaitnoas of march 2020.: 32 latviageneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 liberianot anymore(2018–9)as of september 2018. president ellen johnson sirleaf banned fgm for one year which expired on 22 january 2019. libyanoas of march 2020.: 40 lithuaniageneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 luxembourggeneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 malawinoas of march 2020.: 40 malaysianoas of march 2020.: 32 maldivesnoas of march 2020.: 22 malinoas of march 2020.: 22 maltaspecific criminal provision: 26 specific criminal law provision.: 26 mauritaniaspecific criminal provision: 22 2005as of september 2018. montenegrospecific criminal provisionspecific criminal law provision netherlandsspecific criminal provision2006specific criminal law provision including cross-border fgm: articles 7.d and 71.3 combined with articles 300–303 (additional penalties in article 304). new zealandspecific criminal provision: 40 1995specific criminal law provision.: 40 nigerspecific criminal provision: 22 2003as of september 2018. nigeriafederal specific criminal provisiondoes not apply in all states: 22 specific criminal law provision that does not apply in all states of nigeria.: 22 norwayspecific criminal provision: 26 1995specific criminal law provision.: 26 omanspecific criminal provision: 33 specific criminal law provision.: 33 pakistannoas of march 2020.: 33 philippinesnoas of march 2020.: 33 polandgeneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 portugalspecific criminal provision: 26 specific criminal law provision.: 26 qatarnoas of march 2020.: 40 romaniageneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 russiageneral criminal provisiongeneral criminal law provision saudi arabianoas of march 2020.: 34 senegalspecific criminal provision: 22 1999specific criminal law provision.: 22 serbiaspecific criminal provisionspecific criminal law provision sierra leoneno: 22 initiation rite-related fgm was criminalised in 2019, but there is no national law banning all fgm. singaporenoas of march 2020.: 34 slovakiageneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 sloveniageneral criminal provision: 45 general criminal law provision.: 45 somaliapartlythe constitution prohibits fgm, but there are no laws and no known prosecutions of fgm.: 22 somalilandnoas of september 2018. south africaspecific criminal provision: 40 2003specific criminal law provision.: 40 south sudanspecific criminal provision: 40 specific criminal law provision.: 40 spainspecific criminal provision: 26 2003specific criminal law provision.: 26 sri lankanoas of march 2020.: 33 sudanspecific criminal provisionrestricted/banned in 6/18 states2020criminalised in april 2020 by amending the criminal code. punishable by a fine and 3 years imprisonment.already restricted or banned in 6/18 states between 2008 and 2020. reinfibulation apparently still legal. swedenspecific anti-fgm law: 26 1982new law enacted in 1998. specific national anti-fgm law which prohibits fgm.: 26 switzerlandspecific criminal provision: 26 specific criminal law provision.: 26 syrianoas of march