CAT/C/66/D/757/2016 circumcised if returned to Côte d’Ivoire. The complainant’s mother had herself been circumcised when she was 19 years old, after her parents had died. Her parents were against female genital mutilation but the rest of the family forced her to undergo circumcision. The complainant’s mother belongs to the Malinke tribe, from the north-west of the country. The complainant argues that a very high percentage of women and girls in her tribe undergo female genital mutilation and that her mother cannot protect her from being circumcised. 2.2 The complainant’s mother applied for asylum on behalf of her daughter on 24 April 2015. On 3 June 2015, the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Ministry of Justice and Security denied the application. According to the Service, even though female genital mutilation is still practiced in Côte d’Ivoire, it is usually the mother who decides whether her daughter will undergo the procedure and Ivorian domestic law protects the rights of women. The fact that the complainant’s mother was circumcised only after the death of her parents shows that it is the parents who decide on the matter. The Service stated that the mother of the complainant was a grown woman, that her extended family would not have much influence on her decision and that she would be able to protect her minor daughter from female genital mutilation. Furthermore, it stated that the complainant and her mother could resettle in another area of Côte d’Ivoire, thus avoiding social pressure. 2.3 On 9 June 2015, the complainant appealed to The Hague District Court. The Court rejected her appeal on 29 June 2015, stating that the complainant’s mother could resettle in another area of the country of origin as she had no contact with her extended family in her home town. On 2 July 2015, the complainant appealed to the Council of State, which rejected her appeal on 21 August 2015. 2.4 The complainant notes that even though female genital mutilation is officially prohibited in Côte d’Ivoire, it is still deeply rooted in sociocultural norms and very few perpetrators are brought to justice. She refers to a guidance note in which it is stated that for various reasons, State authorities may be unwilling or unable to interfere with such traditional customs and practice that are so deeply entrenched and widely followed. Thus, while female genital mutilation may have been legally designated as a crime, in practice it is not treated as such, with the result that there is little or no law enforcement to stop it. 1 In the same document, it is also stated that female genital mutilation can be considered a child-specific form of persecution as it disproportionately affects the girl child. In keeping with the established practice, when assessing a child’s claim for asylum (that is, where the child is the principal applicant), it is important to bear in mind that actions or threats that might not qualify as persecution in the case of an adult may do so in the case of a child. In most cases, however, the potential or actual harm caused by female genital mutilation is so serious that it must be considered to qualify as persecution, regardless of the age of the claimant.2 2.5 The complainant submits that her mother suffers from severe psychiatric disorders, but that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has not taken into account the medical statements provided by her mother. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and hears voices that instruct her to commit suicide. She has already tried to commit suicide by drinking chlorhexidine and, a day later, Sterillium. When faced with difficulty, she tends to go numb and just cries and sleeps. She has a lot of trouble coping and raising her three children3 alone and she gets a lot of help from volunteers from the local non-governmental organization (NGO) and church. 2.6 The complainant also argues that the Netherlands has not taken into account the social aspects of the asylum request. The social context plays an important role in the case because the complainant’s mother is single with three young children, all born in the Netherlands out of wedlock, and has no social network in Côte d’Ivoire. It would therefore be impossible for her mother to resettle in another part of her country of origin and start a new life. Moreover, should she need to stay with members of her extended family, she 1 2 3 2 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Guidance Note on Refugee Claims Relating to Female Genital Mutilation (Geneva, May 2009), para. 20. Ibid., para. 9. The complainant has two older brothers (ages unknown).

Select target paragraph3