Portuguese Hospitals to Screen for FGM After 515 Survivors Identified

The Portugal Amadora/Sintra local health network has confirmed 515 women living in the country as survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM), a disclosure that is already reshaping how public hospitals, schools and immigration desks will screen and protect girls in 2026.

Why This Matters

• Record-high detection – 254 FGM cases were recorded nationwide in 2024, the largest annual figure yet.

• New funding unlocked – Law 73-A/2025 orders extra money in 2026 for prevention units from Sintra to Cascais.

• Mandatory flagging – Maternity wards must now alert child-protection teams when a mother is an FGM survivor.

• All acts took place abroad – No procedure has been documented on Portuguese soil, but the health burden is carried here.

How the Cases Came to Light

Most of the 515 women were identified at the Hospital Professor Doutor Fernando Fonseca during routine pregnancy care. Midwives flagged 39 % of cases while assisting childbirth, 18 % in post-partum check-ups and another 12 % in prenatal consultations. Separate screening in outpatient gynaecology and family-medicine clinics captured the remaining share.

Healthcare staff describe a typical pattern: a woman from Guiné-Bissau, Guiné-Conacri or Senegal—three nations that account for nearly 70 % of Portuguese detections—presents with recurring pelvic pain or delivery complications. A culturally-trained nurse then performs a physical exam, completes an anonymised alert form and connects the patient with psychological support.

The Lingering Health Toll

Portugal’s national surveillance list for 2024 registers 82 mental-health referrals, 59 obstetric complications, 55 sexual-function complaints and 48 uro-gynaecological sequelae linked to FGM.

The two most frequent anatomical patterns found in Portuguese hospitals mirror global trends: Type I (partial or total clitoral removal) in 55 % of cases and Type II (clitoris plus inner labia excision) in 41 %. Women were, on average, 7.7 years old when the cut occurred, but only 30.9 years old when a Portuguese doctor finally documented it.

Legal & Policy Landscape

Lisbon incorporated FGM into its Penal Code in 2015; the statute allows prosecutors to press charges even when the crime happened abroad. Conviction can carry up to 10 years in prison.

Beyond punishment, policy has shifted toward early detection. Law 73-A/2025 obliges every primary-care centre in high-prevalence districts—including Amadora, Loures and Almada—to keep at least one professional certified in FGM counselling. It earmarks extra funds for mobile outreach teams and translation services starting this calendar year.

The “Práticas Saudáveis” programme, meanwhile, runs community workshops in 10 Lisbon-area health groupings and will expand to the Algarve and Porto in late 2026.

What This Means for Residents

For anyone living in Portugal—whether long-term citizen or newcomer—these developments translate into concrete changes:

Quicker referrals – If you work in education, social services or policing, expect updated e-learning modules on spotting risk indicators by mid-summer.

More questions at maternity visits – Pregnant women will face a short screening on genital cutting history; refusal is allowed, but professionals must log the offer.

Travel advisories for dual-nationals – Parents taking daughters to countries where FGM is prevalent can be questioned by border officers under the Child-Endangerment Statute.

Additional community clinics – Sintra and Oeiras will open evening drop-in sessions staffed by female nurses fluent in Mandinka, Fula and Creole for discreet counselling.

Next Steps: Training, Reporting & Outreach

The Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa begins a fresh postgraduate course on FGM next month, aiming to certify 40 doctors and social workers each semester. Separately, the youth-led initiative “Jovens Ativistas no Combate à MGF/C” ramps up TikTok and Instagram campaigns to reach second-generation teenagers who may feel family pressure during summer visits abroad.

Portugal’s strategy is clear: detect early, support survivors and break the inter-generational cycle. With more than 240 girls already born to FGM survivors at the Amadora/Sintra hospital alone, local authorities say the next two years will determine whether the practice fades or finds new ground.

“Identification is protection,” stresses the Portugal Directorate-General of Health, which urges anyone who suspects a planned trip for cutting to call the 116 111 child-safeguard line; interpreters are available.

For residents, the message is equally blunt: the procedure stops abroad, but its medical, legal and psychological consequences are now unmistakably a Portuguese reality.