Excerpt:
Nearly 200,000 girls in the European Union are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) and the bloc must initiate a broad, coordinated action plan to combat the issue, Amnesty International campaigners say.
FGM, a traditional practice in which all or parts of the external female genitalia are removed, is found in 28 African countries, pockets of the Middle East and Asia, as well as Western countries with immigrant populations.
The European Union is home to an estimated 500,000 victims of FGM. In addition, an estimated 180,000 girls are at risk of FGM each year, according to the European Parliament.