FGM violates women’s rights

The practice of FGM is a violation of the rights of women as it contributes to the unequal participation of women in society and discrimination against women.
FGM attempts to control women’s sexuality and enforce stereotypes that denigrate women’s position in society. Furthermore it prevents women from advancement and full participation in society because of the painful short and long term effects.

The rights of women are protected in several international instruments; in particular, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action and the Declaration on the Elimination of violence against women.

The UN Committee on CEDAW has clearly denounced the practice of FGM in its General Recommendation No.14 on Female Circumcision (1990). The UN General Assembly too, in its January 2002 Resolution on Traditional or Customary Practices affecting the health of women and girls, called upon all states to ratify or accede to CEDAW, and to adopt national measures to prohibit traditional practices such as FGM.

FGM has been defined by the UN ‘Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women’ as a form of violence against women and a human rights violation that should incur individual criminal responsibility (Article 2a of UN General Assembly resolution 1993). The Declaration further states that “women who are subjected to violence should be provided with access to the mechanisms of justice and, as provided for by national legislation, to just and effective remedies for the harm that they have suffered; States should also inform women of their rights in seeking redress through such mechanisms

The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women (VAW) stressed the importance of empowerment of women in the fight against FGM in a 15 years review report of violence against women. The report elaborates that in meeting its responsibility, “the State must include not only legislative, investigative and judicial reform to end impunity, but also empowerment approaches to build women’s capacities and to facilitate the questioning of hegemony within cultures by women.”

Read the 1993 UN General Assembly resolution on ‘Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women’.

Read the report on 15 years of The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences.