Let­ter of pro­tec­tion against female gen­i­tal mutilation

Female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion is a crime and a seri­ous human rights vio­la­tion with life­long seri­ous phys­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal con­se­quences for the girls and women affected.

Female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion is a crime that can be pun­ished with a prison sen­tence of up to 15 years (Sec­tion 226a of the Ger­man Crim­i­nal Code — StGB)

For­eign nation­als who return to Ger­many after per­form­ing female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion, help­ing oth­ers to do so or fail­ing to pro­tect their daugh­ters may be refused entry to Ger­many or their exist­ing res­i­dence per­mit may expire.

The Fed­er­al Gov­ern­men­t’s let­ter of pro­tec­tion pro­vides infor­ma­tion and sup­port for poten­tial victims.

Let­ter of pro­tec­tion against female gen­i­tal mutilation

The let­ter of pro­tec­tion against female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion pro­vides infor­ma­tion about the crim­i­nal lia­bil­i­ty of female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion — even if it is car­ried out abroad — and about the pos­si­ble loss of a res­i­dence per­mit. It is pri­mar­i­ly intend­ed to pro­tect against female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion in the coun­tries of ori­gin dur­ing vaca­tion peri­ods and can be car­ried in the passport.
Down­load pro­tec­tion let­ter against female gen­i­tal mutilation

Are you affect­ed by FGM/C or does some­one you know need help and advice?

Then you can con­tact us by tele­phone dur­ing our open­ing hours (Mon to Thu — 10.00 am to 3.00 pm)
or via our con­tact form.
For faster and bet­ter acces­si­bil­i­ty, please include your tele­phone num­ber (option­al).

You can also:

• call the police (phone num­ber: 📞 110) or
• Your local youth wel­fare office in your place of residence
  Karl­sruhe
  Gen­er­al social ser­vice of the youth wel­fare office
  📞 0721 936 — 67 010
  📞 112 (out­side of busi­ness hours)

What is female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion and what are the risks?

In female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion (also known as FGM), the exter­nal gen­i­talia are par­tial­ly or com­plete­ly removed with­out med­ical rea­sons. This is usu­al­ly done with­out anes­the­sia and under unhy­gien­ic con­di­tions. In the most severe form, the vagi­nal entrance is almost com­plete­ly sewn shut. The phys­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal con­se­quences for the women and girls affect­ed are seri­ous. When female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion is car­ried out, deaths can also occur direct­ly due to exces­sive blood loss or severe infec­tion.

What are the penal­ties and con­se­quences of female gen­i­tal mutilation?

Female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion is a crime that can be pun­ished with a prison sen­tence of up to 15 years (Sec­tion 226a of the Ger­man Crim­i­nal Code — StGB). It is also pun­ish­able if it is car­ried out abroad and the per­pe­tra­tor is Ger­man. Gen­i­tal muti­la­tion abroad is also pun­ish­able if the girl or woman on whom the muti­la­tion is car­ried out is Ger­man or has her place of res­i­dence or cen­ter of life in Ger­many. Any­one who car­ries out female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion them­selves or helps anoth­er per­son to do so may be liable to pros­e­cu­tion. Par­ents can be liable to pros­e­cu­tion if they do not pro­tect their daugh­ters from female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion in Ger­many or abroad.

There are also con­sid­er­able con­se­quences out­side of crim­i­nal law. For­eign nation­als who return to Ger­many after per­form­ing female gen­i­tal muti­la­tion, help­ing oth­ers to do so or fail­ing to pro­tect their daugh­ters may be refused entry to Ger­many or their exist­ing res­i­dence per­mit may expire.