Offenses against freedom, physical integrity, health and, ultimately, to the woman’s life cannot be, under any circumstances, based on a tradition anchored in a profound gender inequality. It is intolerable to conceive women (and children of the feminine gender) as unequal human beings, with their fundamental rights reduced.

As an unshakeable advocate for human rights, the Portuguese Ombudsman strongly condemns this practice, marking tomorrow the International Day of Zero Tolerance For Female Genital Mutilation. And with this simple message, I pay homage to all of those who, in the name of tradition or whatever might be, perished or carry the painful scar of their incomplete body.