(ANSA) - Rome, February 5 - About 35,000 women in Italy have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) and more than a thousand girls are at risk, despite a 2006 Italian law forbidding the practice, said Liliana Ocmin, director of the Migrant, Women and Youth Policies Department of Italian labour union CISL.

February 6 each year is the United Nations' International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) aims to eliminate FGM by 2030 as part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Ocmin, who also serves as CISL's national women's coordinator, said FGM is becoming more prevalent in Italy due to migration from women fleeing war, poverty and environmental disasters.

The European Parliament estimates that half a million women and girls living in Europe have undergone FGM and 180,000 more are at risk each year, Ocmin said.

She said more must be done, more quickly, in terms of awareness and education.

"At this pace, UNFPA said it will take until 2074 to see the phenomenon decrease by half. It becomes essential, then, to increase activities and initiatives to speed up the process of awareness," Ocmin said.

