Healthcare professionals

Medical certificate confirming that the child has not been sexually mutilated

Pursuant to article L. 531-11 of the CESEDA , this medical certificate is compulsory and must be drawn up by a practitioner in forensic medicine working in a hospital unit specialising in the forensic treatment of living persons (UMJ) or in a unit specialising in caring of women who are victims of violence, linked to a health establishment and approved by Ofpra after consultation with the Minister for Health.

In Corsica and the overseas territories, these medical examinations may also be carried out in the gynaecology or paediatrics departments of health establishments. If you work in these departments, you can call on the expertise of the reference hospital units listed in appendix 3 of arrêté IOMV2330687A du 6 février 2024

Users must attend the medical examination with the child's asylum application certificate, the invitation to the Ofpra interview and the child's health record.

You must send this medical certificate directly to Ofpra. Ofpra will pay for the medical examination, after verifying that the service has been rendered on the basis of the certificate of the minor's attendance at the examination, which does not include any medical information.

Thereafter, every five years, unless the Office has serious reason to believe that sexual mutilation has been or may be carried out in the meantime, as part of the monitoring of international protection granted to minors due to a risk of sexual mutilation and in order to ensure that the Office's protection is effective, the legal representatives of the minor child benefiting from international protection for this reason are asked, in accordance with article L. 561-8 of the Ceseda, to have the child undergo another medical examination to establish that there has been no sexual mutilation. The certificate issued following this examination must be drawn up in accordance with the procedure detailed above.

You will find below the model certificate in accordance with the "arrêté" and contact details for the UMJs and units specialising in the care of women victims of violence linked to a health establishment and accredited by Ofpra.

Apply for Ofpra accreditation for a unit specialising in caring for women who are victims of violence

NB : UMJs do not need to apply for an agreement with Ofpra

If a unit specialising in the care of women victims of violence linked to a health establishment wishes to issue a medical certificate confirming the absence or not of sexual mutilation of the child in accordance with the above procedure, it must apply to be accredited by Ofpra.

Medical examinations must be carried out by practitioners registered with the Ordre des Médecins, who hold a diploma or university qualification in forensic medicine recognised by the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Médecins or a right to practise issued by the Ordre des Médecins en Médecine Légale, and who carry out a medical function within the specialised unit.

Applications must be sent by e-mail to the following address: vulnerabilites[a]ofpra.gouv.fr with the following information : a request for accreditation dated and signed by the representative of the specialised unit, specifying their function the statutes of the specialised unit; if applicable, any other useful document relating to the expertise of the structure in caring for women who are victims of violence; the names and qualifications of the doctors practising within the specialised unit and likely to carry out the medical examinations provided for in articles L. 531-11 and L.561-8 of the CESEDA ; any useful information relating to the arrangements for making an appointment with the specialised unit for female minors concerned by these medical examinations and the conduct of the medical examination.

Medical certificate attesting to the sexual mutilation, if any, suffered by the child's mother or an adult

This medical certificate, which is also required of mothers of minors applying for asylum because of a risk of FGM and of adult women applying for asylum on their own behalf for this reason, under the duty to cooperate set out in article L.531-5 of the CESEDA , is not governed by the "arrêté". The adult women concerned can therefore request it from the doctor or midwife of their choice.