Prevention of female genital mutilation in The Netherlands

Political attention was drawn to the item of female genital mutilation in The Netherlands in 2004. A task force has been installed to investigate the incidence of and evaluate the attitude towards female genital mutilation. The incidence is estimated to be 50 girls a year, especially girls from Africa. The government has decided to draw up rules for physicians and nurses in paediatric public health in order to influence the attitude of women and help them to abandon this tradition.