Is having an extending blade near the knife handle a serious risk when cutting food?

No, there is not a risk to getting the kind of cut you describe, as long as you treat your knife with the respect it deserves.

If there's a dull, raised part at the back of the knife, it is called the bolster, otherwise it's the heel of the blade. The raised version is a common trait in forged knifes, and is supposed to add strength to the blade.

From experience: yes, you can cut yourself on the heel of bolster-less knifes, but generally not in the way you describe. I would not avoid them, or avoid knives where the blade tapers from the handle for safety reasons. I've cut myself a couple times on the heel of the blade when grabbing for a knife in a hurry, but these kinds of cuts are generally superficial and fast healing.

There is also a significant advantage to bolster-less blades: they're much easier to sharpen, and have more usable length to the blade.

The knife in the picture is a paring knife. The way to use such a knife is completely different from what you pretend (cutting a carcass). A paring knife is used with the sharp end facing you and pushing the small food items across.

For cutting a carcass, I'd recommend a regular chef's knife, a Chinese knife or, preferably, a cleaver.

It depends on what I am actually doing with the knife. I would indeed not use a knife like this for work requiring some force. Slicing tomatoes is one thing, but image that you actually cut a chicken with that knife and in a forward motion with some force hit e.g. a bone. There is a definitive risk, that your finger will slip over the ridge and slide along the blade.

Going back to a more generic knife design, there is usually a "guard" between the handle and the blade, numbered 9 in this picture (source. Wikipedia):

Even if a kitchen knife rarely has such a pronounced guard, I would at least make sure that at least the shape of the blade prevents your hand from slipping, like on this kitchen knife (source. Wikipedia):