Spain

46,403,776

0.9%

Number of girls and women affected

There are no national statistics on FGC in Spain.

The practice is not indigenous to the country, however FGC has been known to continue within some diaspora, refugee and immigrant populations.

In 2013, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) noted that nearly 10,500 girls, and over 30,400 women living in Spain had come from a country where FGC is traditionally practised. According to Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, this rose to 70,000 women from FGC-affected countries by 2017.

The Guardian reported in 2015 that Catalonia is home to the largest at-risk population.

Source: EIGE, UAB & The Guardian

Type practised

The type of FGC practised by communities in Spain is likely to be varied, depending on the traditions surrounding the practice within their ethnic group/country of heritage.

Age

The average age at which girls living in Spain have undergone FGC is unknown. Girls at risk may undergo FGC from birth, approximately up until the age of 16, depending on the traditional age of cutting within a specific ethnic group.

Agent

Varied. Girls living in Spain may be at risk of undergoing the practice within the country, or overseas. This could be carried out by a medical practitioner, or by a traditional cutter.

Legal status

Illegal. Spain implemented a law against FGC in 2003.

Source: EIGE

National progress

• 2007 – Catalonia developed a protocol on FGC for health professionals, following the first detection of a girl having undergone the practice in 1993.
• 2011 – Two parents were imprisoned for carrying out FGC on their daughter, after a court decision of the Audiencia Provincial of Teruel.
• 2015 – Spain developed a nation-wide protocol for health professionals.

Human Development Index ranking

26 in 2018 index, based on 2017 data.

Infant mortality rate

2.7 deaths per 1,000 live births (2016).

Maternal mortality rate

5 deaths per 100,000 live births (2015).

Source: Human Development Index

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