3.9.3. Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C)

Table of contents

 COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: June 2025

 

This profile refers to women and girls in Sudan who have not been subjected to FGM/C.  

The analysis below is based on the following EUAA COI reports: Country Focus 2025, 1.3. (b), 2.6. (e). Country Guidance should not be referred to as a source of COI.

Despite legal prohibition since 2020 (Criminal Law amendment criminalising FGM/C), sources report that there is no enforcement of such law and, in Sudan, FGM is generally carried out on girls between the ages of 4 and 14, but also on infants, women before marriage, and even women or girls pregnant with their first child before childbirth or who have just given birth.

  Step 1: Do the reported acts amount to persecution?  

FGM/C amounts to persecution.

  Step 2: What is the level of risk of persecution?  

 

For girls who have not been subjected to FGM/C a well-founded fear of persecution would in general be substantiated, as in Sudan, FGM/C is a widespread and deeply rooted practice, generally carried out on girls between the ages of 4 and 14.

The individual assessment of whether there is a reasonable degree of likelihood for a woman who has not been subjected to FGM/C should take into account risk-impacting circumstances, particularly:

  • Age: younger women would be exposed to a higher risk.

  • Personal status: women who are about to be married and, sometimes, women who are pregnant with their first child or who have just given birth would be exposed to a higher risk.

  • Views of the family/community on the practice: women originating from families/communities with more traditional views, regardless of the socio-economic situation, would be exposed to a higher risk.

  Step 3: Is there a ground for persecution?  

Persecution of women and girls falling under this profile is highly likely to be for reasons of membership of a particular social group. Women and girls who have not been subjected to FGM/C may be persecuted for reasons of an innate characteristic and/or common background which cannot be changed (not being subjected to FGM/C) and their distinct identity within their community in Sudan.