Should Female Genital Mutilation (hereinafter referred to as FGM) be considered a criminal offence? In your opinion, how does FGM violate a woman(TM)s right to privacy and personal enjoyment? Would such acts be considere

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University Degree Law

TABLE OF CONTENT

Table Of Statutes        1

Question        2

Female Genital Mutilation - What Is It?        3

Female Genital Mutilation vs Woman’s Right To Privacy And Personal Enjoyment        4

Female Genital Mutilation vs Human’s Rights        6

Medicalising or Criminalising Female Genital Mutilation        11

In Short…        14

Suggestion        15

Bibliography        16

Appendix        18

 

TABLE OF STATUTES

Edo State Female Genital Mutilation (Prohibition) Law 1999        10

Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003        9, 14

Human Rights Act 1998        9, 14

Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985        9, 13

QUESTION

Should Female Genital Mutilation (hereinafter referred to as “FGM”) be considered a criminal offence?

In your opinion, how does FGM violate a woman’s right to privacy and personal enjoyment? Would such acts be considered a breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 in the United Kingdom?

You are required to critically evaluate the law on woman’s rights in relation to FGM and the law on human rights in answering the above question. You are also required to consider whether the countries practicing FGM should adopt a code such as the Human Rights Act 1998 (UK).

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION - WHAT IS IT?

Female genital mutilation (hereinafter referred to as “FGM”), also widely known as female circumcision is a practice traditionally practiced by peoples all around the world. FGM refers to the surgical operation of removing healthy normal female genitalia. Also, the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines all procedures which partially or totally remove the external female genitalia or causes injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons as FGM. Traditionally, this FGM was believed to be practiced among Muslims in Middle East and Asia countries, ancient Egyptians and Arabs. Although FGM was seen and practiced as either religious or ethnic rituals the practice in North America and Europe resembles a totally different purpose. In the late 19th century, it was widely carried out in these regions especially the United States with the intention to “cure female insanity”. However, true it may seem that a large number of the Muslim societies practices FGM, it was firmly denied by many religious leaders that FGM is an injunction in the Qur’an. The Christian religious leaders had denied FGM as a “commandment” in the Bible as well.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION VS WOMAN’S RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND PERSONAL ENJOYMENT

        God has created mankind the way we were for a purpose. Female genitalia should not be treated as the cause of evil and death. People should stop believing in ridiculous reasoning for FGM to be performed. It has been proven that the main purpose of FGM was the control of female’s sexual pleasure in ancient time. However, the Creator’s creation should not be changed unnecessarily especially without a strong reasoning. Female genitalia, especially the clitoris, were made to provide orgasm to women during sexual intercourse. Women should be given their right to their private sexual life and should be treated equally as men were.

        Instead of performing female genital mutilation or circumcising females, education should be a better approach to control female and even male sexual need. Women and even children deserve every right to privacy and their personal enjoyment should not be interfered by others. The society or authority should not have any right to decide whether a person should be circumcised in order to control their sexual activity. Since FGM diminished or even eliminates women’s ability to reach orgasm during sexual intercourse, women could not enjoy sexual activity with their husband. This does not only violate a woman’s right to personal enjoyment, but the marriage may be affected due to unhappy sexual life between the couple.

        A woman’s privacy should be preserved and protected instead of performing non-medical operation to control their personal life. Unlike male circumcision, FGM was performed and wholly based on male dominance society with the intention to curtail woman’s freedom including their sexual life. Although many of the Muslim society practise FGM as part of their tradition and religious practise, it was not true as Islamic law allows and protects women’s sexual enjoyment. Islamic law which allows woman to seek divorce because of the inability of the husband to provide sexual satisfaction proves that sexual enjoyment by woman is equally recognised as men. Therefore, FGM should not be an excuse of the religious practise for people to gain control over woman’s sexual life.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION VS HUMAN’S RIGHTS

It has been century long issue on the female genital mutilation practice and the human’s rights concerning it. It is undeniable that this practice infringed the basic human rights of the victims. Usually, no consent had been given by mutilated victims. In fact, most of the mutilated victims are unable to give consent to the operation due to their lack of age and ability to appreciate the implication of the operation on them. FGM, by and large takes place at a very young age of the victim as young as infancy to women at their delivery of the first child. Most of these females, when circumcised, was not able to apprehend the nature of the act done on them, children especially, were not able to give consent to what was to be done on them. If a child struggle in the circumcision process, the elders in charge would force them down. This violates the child’s right to personal integrity and their right to be free from being tortured. It was such a cruel and inhuman for an infibulated woman’s vagina would need to be deinfibulated in order to have sexual intercourse with their husband. And often than not, this would be performed by their husband. The fact that most circumcision process was not properly performed by a trained medical practitioner and the deinfibulation was done by an inexperience husband added the pain and risk to a woman. While a woman would be deinfibulated on the wedding day or before giving birth, re-infibulations was done on woman after giving birth. All these acts done on young girls and women violate the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”).

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Article 3 of the Convention prohibits people from being physically or mentally tortured. Since unlawful forces were usually applied in order to circumcise a girl or woman without a therapeutic reason, it is therefore reasonable to conclude that the act was indeed a torture towards the victims. Psychological torture also resulted throughout the process. Fear of pain by the victims before being circumcised and the force used may be traumatic to the victims. Young victims especially, may carry the painful experience and feeling incomplete as a woman throughout their lifetime if they survive. These tortures, either physically or mentally, would be sufficient ...

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Should Female Genital Mutilation (hereinafter referred to as FGM) be considered a criminal offence? In your opinion, how does FGM violate a woman(TM)s right to privacy and personal enjoyment? Would such acts be considere
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