“Acts of female genital mutilation constitute acts of persecution on grounds of membership of a particular social group and, where their specific attribution to the person of the applicant is established, they constitute the basis for the recognition of refugee status pursuant to and for the purposes of Articles 2 et seq. of Legislative Decree No. 251 of 19 November 2007. […] The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as early as May 2009, highlighted the seriousness and dangerousness of female genital mutilation, often performed on newborns or girls who have not yet reached the age of 15, with extremely negative long-term physical and mental consequences, considering it as “a form of gender-based violence that inflicts severe harm, both physical and mental, and constitutes a well-founded ground for persecution. Indeed, all forms of FGM violate a number of human rights of girls and women, including the right to non-discrimination, protection from physical and mental violence, the highest attainable standard of health, and, in the most extreme cases, the right to life. It is a form of inhuman and degrading treatment, equated with torture.”
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