In the last 10 years, the Amadora-Sintra Hospital has identified more than 500 women victims of female genital mutilation and accompanied the birth of more than 240 girls born to these women, warning of the risk of perpetuating the practice.
The majority are women of childbearing age from Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Senegal, Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana and Congo, who were subjected to this violent practice especially during childhood and adolescence, the Amadora-Sintra Local Health Unit (ULSASI) told Lusa, in connection with the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which is celebrated on Friday.
According to the institution, more than 240 girls were born to women subjected to this practice, between September 2015 and December 2025.
For the Working Group Responsible for FGM at Hospital Fernando Fonseca (HFF), these numbers reinforce the importance of raising awareness and training health professionals for early identification and signaling of these situations, with a view to preventing the practice in future generations.
The director of Obstetrics at ULSASI, Ana Paula Ferreira, told Lusa that in the last two years alone, 128 cases of FGM were identified. Among the victims in the last decade are women who have lived in Portugal for several years and others who recently arrived, mainly from Guinea.
According to the expert, victims do not usually make any reference to the situation: “I believe that some are not even aware that they are mutilated. It is only when they are confronted with the situation that they begin to relate some of the things that happen in their lives with the mutilation, such as the reduction in sexual pleasure.”
In cases of higher degree mutilations, he explained, women have pain during sexual intercourse and “the last phase of labor is much more complicated because the lacerations are generally much greater than in a woman who has an unmutilated vulva”, he highlighted.
From a psychological point of view, women who know they have been victims of mutilation “have suffered some damage”, because a part of their body was removed without their consent.
The detection of these situations occurs mainly during pregnancy, either during surveillance consultations or upon admission to the maternity ward, including women who have recently arrived in Portugal at the time of giving birth.
During hospitalization, the team carries out awareness-raising work, although limited by time: “On average, we only have three days to spend with these ladies, the time between birth, hospitalization and discharge”.
After giving birth, when the woman is calm and stable, the team collects clinical information, namely whether she is aware of having been subjected to mutilation, the age at which it occurred and the associated complaints throughout her life, the most common being pain during sexual intercourse and decreased pleasure.
“Then we try to understand if they are open to not carrying out this practice on their daughters and teaching their children”, said Ana Paula Ferreira.
After discharge, women are referred for monitoring at local health units, through a national platform in which all women subject to mutilation are registered, as well as their babies and daughters.
The obstetrician also highlighted the importance of involving men in prevention work and extending awareness to primary health care, pediatric consultations and schools.
“Many professionals are unaware of the number of women subjected to the practice and the risk that their daughters run if they travel to their country of origin”, he warned.
Khatidja Amirali, specialist nurse and member of the HFF working group, defended, in turn, that it is essential to understand the sociocultural context of the practice, whilst providing information about the law in Portugal, the consequences for the health and rights of girls and future women.
“It’s not easy, it shocks us, especially when we realize that there is an intention to continue the practice, but it is important not to judge so as not to lose the trust of the woman before us”, he defended.
ULSAI warns of “higher risk periods”, such as school breaks, when some children travel to their families’ countries of origin and may be subjected to the ritual without their mother’s knowledge or consent.
The articulation between school health and primary health care therefore plays a crucial role, with ULSASI promoting training and awareness-raising actions among health professionals and in schools.
FGM is defined as any procedure that involves the partial or total removal of the female external genital organs, or that causes injury to them, for non-medical reasons.
It is a public crime, a form of physical and emotional abuse and a violation of human rights.
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