“Acts of female genital mutilation constitute acts of persecution on grounds of membership of a particular social group and, where their specific connection 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 danger of female genital mutilation, often carried out on newborns or girls under the age of 15, with extremely negative long-term physical and mental consequences, going so far as to consider it “a form of gender-based violence that inflicts severe harm, both physical and mental, and constitutes a well-founded reason for persecution. Indeed, all forms of FGM violate a range of human rights of girls and women, including the right to non-discrimination, protection from physical and mental violence, the highest attainable standards of health, and, in the most extreme cases, the right to life. It is a form of inhuman and degrading treatment, equivalent to torture.”
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