France is facing a female genital mutilation (FGM) crisis brought on by mass immigration, warns Mathilda Silva of Collectif Némésis, and in those neighborhoods with the most diversity, the most women are facing the consequences of this brutal practice.
“This morning, I saw a graphic from an association that is absolutely revolting, in which it was written that 1 in 10 women in Seine-Saint-Denis is a victim of female genital mutilation. I don’t know if we realize this madness,” said Silva.
🇫🇷🔴France's female genital mutilation (FGM) crisis is a crisis of mass immigration.
In the most multicultural district of Paris, locals even take their daughters on vacation to their home country to partake in the barbaric practice.
"This morning, I saw a graphic from an… pic.twitter.com/IXSh3r7G6T
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) August 13, 2026Official data from the MSF-PREVAL pilot study, conducted in 2021 across health facilities and reported by Santé publique France, places the figure at approximately 7.2 percent among women aged 18 to 45 in the Seine-Saint-Denis department—roughly one in 14. This equates to an estimated 22,500 adult women. However, the study indicates that the upper bounds of this number could reach as high as 10 percent, which far exceeding rates in other French departments – around 1 percent in the Rhône and under 1 percent in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Nationally, estimates range from 125,000 to about 139,000 women living with the consequences of FGM.
Silva details that the practice is illegal in France but residents have a way of circumventing this restriction by traveling back to their home countries.
“The process for this is always about the same: parents take their young girl on vacation to their country of origin. So the countries that practice this the most are Sub-Saharan African countries. How strange. And in fact, when the little girls come back, well, they have undergone mutilation,” she warned.
This trend is not unique to France either. In 2023, a girl living in Sweden revealed how she was subjected to female genital mutilation when her parents brought her on a family holiday to Egypt.
Research confirms that high-risk country origins in Seine-Saint-Denis center on African countries such as Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Guinea. About 24 percent of women surveyed in the department came from such countries, and among them the prevalence reached around 30 percent. Risk drops sharply for those born in France after the mid-1990s, yet cases persist of girls raised in France being taken abroad during holidays for the procedure.
French law is unambiguous. Female genital mutilation is illegal, classified as a serious crime. Silva underscores the human cost.
“I obviously remind you that female genital mutilation is completely illegal in France, that it is an abominable torture, that it is often performed under absolutely deplorable hygienic conditions, that there are women who lose their lives, and above all, these women are traumatized for the rest of their lives by what they experienced.”
Medical literature and survivor accounts detail immediate dangers—severe bleeding, infection, shock—and lifelong effects including chronic pain, complications in childbirth, sexual dysfunction, and profound psychological trauma. Specialized units, such as the one established in 2017 at the André-Grégoire hospital in Montreuil, now provide reconstructive surgery, psychological support, and sexological care to hundreds of women each year. Local maternity data from the same hospital has recorded FGM in about 13 percent of births.
Silva reserves particular criticism for local leadership. “And it’s funny because the mayor of Saint-Denis –so, the largest city in Seine-Saint-Denis – Bally Bagayoko, who has been omnipresent in the media since his election, hasn’t had a single word for these mutilated girls. Yet, this is something that particularly affects his city. I haven’t seen him working with local grassroots organizations, I haven’t seen him run any prevention campaigns.”
Bagayoko, elected mayor of the newly enlarged Saint-Denis in March 2026 under the far-left La France Insoumise-led list, has indeed drawn attention for his controversial stances.
Public records show no prominent statements or dedicated campaigns from the new municipal team specifically targeting FGM prevention in the months following the election. Seine-Saint-Denis, with its significant population originating from high-prevalence regions, remains the clear epicenter within France.
“We are talking about torture inflicted on tens of thousands of women and children, so maybe it’s time to take action,” Silva stated.
