Assita Kanko, MEP against mutilation …

February 6 is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. One of the voices that have been raised against this aberrant practice is that of the current MEP Assita Kanko. He was five years old when he called for help as he was being ablated in his native Burkina Faso, a day he remembers “the pain, the loneliness and the cries for help.” “.

According to data from the World Health Organization, more than 200 million women and girls have been victims of genital mutilation and each year more than three million girls worldwide are at risk of being subjected to this practice, which involves excision and injury of healthy genital tissue and interferes with the natural body functions of girls and women.

Kanko, who now represents Belgium in the European Parliament, assures us that legislation cannot be the only tool for its eradication and that it is necessary to work for the economic independence of women on the ground.

“It’s a taboo subject. There were people who could hear us, it was broad daylight near a market, but no one came. The reason I keep fighting for this and for any kind of injustice is that if you are a witness you have to do something. I do not want to be one of those who are not present, ”said the 40-year-old MP, who became a Belgian national in 2008 and elected MEP in 2018.

Kanko said that as a child the most direct impact on her health was severe physical pain, but also a deep emotional disconnection from herself and her surroundings. As an adult, she suffered the physical consequences of the piercing when she became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter.

Although the practice is most widespread in East and North-East Africa and some countries in the Middle East and Asia, no continent is immune: a study by the European Institute for Gender equality estimates that between 9 and 15 per cent of migrant girls in Spain from countries where ablation is performed are at risk of suffering from it, even after leaving their country of origin.

“There will always be people (in Europe) who don’t care if it doesn’t happen to them, but I think there are people who do, and I’m very grateful for that,” Kanko explains, who in 2020 managed to rally, in an unusual Sample of consensus, six of the seven groups in the European Parliament in a resolution against this practice.

The text urged, among other demands, greater protection for surviving asylum seekers or those at risk of ablation, greater cooperation with countries where this practice is still legal – to move towards its ban and guarantee its respect – and European Budget resources to projects on the ground in favor of girls and survivors.

“When I look at the data globally, I don’t see much progress yet, but luckily now it’s talked about more. And we’re also talking about opportunity, not just pain. We’re not just talking about saving the victims. Of course, we’ve been through it, but we are also human beings with potential. This potential should not be wasted, ”said the policy.

For the MEP, in addition to working to respect the legislation, additional efforts are necessary for the economic emancipation of women in the countries where it is still carried out. “If my mother had her own money, maybe no one could have cut me off,” he said to himself.

The MEP believes that the European Commission should integrate its fight against genital mutilation in areas such as development aid – including the conditions linked to its ban – including women in cooperation projects, training of health so that they know how to help women who live with the consequences of this practice and ensure the successful integration of migrants and refugees in European countries.

“I’m a free woman, I have my money and my opinion. I have a daughter and I would never allow anyone to do this to her because I have the power to say no. A lot of women don’t. the power to say no, they don’t have their own home, the right to speak or even where to find a lawyer, ”he argued.