CAT/C/66/D/757/2016
mother rejected the forced marriage and reported it to the police. The police returned her to
her aunt, who then locked the complainant’s mother in her house. It was then, at the age of
19, that she underwent female genital mutilation. In December 2009, the complainant’s
mother was again married against her will to a wealthy man. She was raped by him on
multiple occasions. In January 2010, she started a relationship with another man and
became pregnant. Suspecting that the child was not his, her husband demanded that the
complainant’s mother have an abortion, as did her aunt. The complainant’s mother tried to
go to the police and twice fled to her aunt’s house, but both times she was returned to her
husband, who at one point locked her in his house for three months. After that, she had an
abortion. In addition, however, her husband did not believe that she had undergone a proper
female genital mutilation and demanded a more extensive procedure (re-cutting). In
response to that demand, the complainant’s mother fled, leaving Côte d’Ivoire on 27
February 2011. The State party notes that the complainant’s identity, ethnicity, nationality
and origin are deemed credible. However, the grounds on which she based her asylum
application were not found to be credible.
4.4
The State party notes that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) classifies
Côte d’Ivoire as a moderately low-prevalence country, in other words as a country where a
relatively small percentage of women (26–50 per cent) have undergone female genital
mutilation.7 In 1998, the procedure became illegal in Côte d’Ivoire.8 Despite this statutory
ban, female genital mutilation is still common in the country. Around 36 per cent of women
and girls have undergone the procedure, especially in the north (88 per cent), north-west
(88 per cent), west (73 per cent), centre-north (59 per cent) and north-east (53 per cent).
Female genital mutilation is practiced by many of the country’s ethnic groups. It is most
common in Muslim communities (such as the Malinke community) and among groups
practicing traditional (animist) faiths. The practice is based on long-standing beliefs and
traditions and is considered a chiefly cultural phenomenon. It is more prevalent among
women and girls who have not had access to education. In general, daughters of women
with a higher level of education are less likely to undergo female genital mutilation.
4.5
According to the State party, girls returning to Côte d’Ivoire risk being subjected to
female genital mutilation if they belong to a family that goes back to its village. Even
families who live in Abidjan but return to their village of origin during the school holidays
may be advised by members of the local community to have their daughters cut during the
summer holidays. According to NGOs working to combat female genital mutilation, it is
not common for Ivorians to seek protection from the police or the gendarmerie. If parents
do not want their daughters cut, the family usually leaves the village before female genital
mutilation can take place. To compensate for the lack of protection from the authorities, a
number of NGOs have set up local committees in various communities. These committees
alert NGO staff if a girl is at risk of female genital mutilation. Family members, the girl
herself or a third party can also contact one of the locally active NGOs directly to ask for
protection. An NGO representative then mediates and/or calls on the local authorities to
intervene. Mediation often involves providing people with reading material about the
damaging effects of female genital mutilation and making them aware that the practice is
illegal. The State party submits that in 2014 there were 454 committees and NGOs working
with the Ministry of Solidarity, the Family, Women and Children of Côte d’Ivoire to
monitor and combat female genital mutilation as part of their primary objective to promote
women’s and children’s rights. Because the NGOs are located in different regions, the
entire country is covered. The Ministry of Solidarity, the Family, Women and Children has
declared that it will carry out an awareness campaign, to be accompanied by sanctions
against those practicing female genital mutilation, and that between January and September
2013 the Government of Côte d’Ivoire intervened in initiation ceremonies on 10 occasions,
including in Touba, the region where the complainant’s mother is from.
7
8
4
UNICEF, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Statistical Overview and Exploration of the
Dynamics of Change (New York, July 2013), p. 27.
See Law No. 98/757 of 23 December 1998. The penalty for performing female genital mutilation is
up to five years in prison and fines up to the equivalent of 3,000 euros. For medical personnel
performing female genital mutilation, the penalties are doubled.