Decision of the Court of Appeal of Venice, II Criminal Section, No. 1485 of 23 November 2012

Article 583 bis of criminal code, which introduced the crime of female genital mutilation into the Italian legal order, aims at protecting individual rights, most particularly the right to health and the right to physical integrity. This Article is inspired by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and by the European Parliament resolution No. 2035 of 2001. In the case, however, the parents did not have the intent to exclude or limit the sexual freedom of their daughter. They only wished to conform with a traditional practice of their ethnic group, with modalities that preserved the physical integrity of the daughter.

  • Original language: Italian