The Prevention Protocol for female genital mutilation was introduced in June 2002. It was the result of interdisciplinary work of Experts committee, who were asked by the government of Catalonia to conceive an acting plan for fighting against female genital mutilation. During the session of the 20^th of June 2001, the Parliament has approved the 832/VI Resolution on adopting measures to avoid the practice of FGM, which was studied by the Social-Political Committee about the legislation bill text as introduced by all the parliamentary groups.

As this protocol was being used, some important modifications on the legal texts have been made. On the one hand, genital mutilation has been characterized as an offence in the Penal Code, and on the other hand, changes have been made on the extraterritoriality criteria and in the accomplishment of this offence by the modification of the Organic Judiciary Act.

These legislative changes and the effective implementation of the protocol after a few years have made necessary its revision by the Monitoring commission in order to improve the working of it by adapting the processes to the new social and legal realities, and particularly by introducing the role of the communities and associations as key elements in preventing this ancestral habit.

The Monitoring commission which includes the Departments of Education, Intern affairs, Institutional relations and participation, Health and social and citizen action, through the intermediary of the Secretariat to childhood and adolescence, the Catalan Institute of women and of the Secretariat of Immigration, has revised the acting protocol for professionals in the different domains that are concerned by FGM. This revision has led to this new edition.

The actions as describes hereunder have been thought up in the protocol in order to prevent this habit, by encouraging prevention, information and formation as well as respect of the Human Rights. Legal intervention remains the last solution.

The objective is to give a total answer to the women who are victims of some sexist violence, this protocol will be completed and coordinated by the frame-protocol and the national circuit assembly for a coordinated intervention against sexist violence, which is being elaborated, and it will establish a certain amount of measures and support mechanisms as well as coordination and cooperation inside and between the public institutions are other concerned agents.

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