FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: NEED FOR CRIMINALISATION

A RADICAL FEMINIST ANALYSIS

SUBMITTED BY:
NIDHI P GOPAN 180401420032
ARCHANA BABU 180401420010
TARUN PHILIP 180401420056

BATCH 2018-2023

Course Teacher/ Supervisor:

PROF. RITHIKA BHEL

Submission Date: 26.09.2022

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ABSTRACT

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION(FGM) is an offence against woman, violating

her dignity and self-respect and when it occurs within the four-walls of a home, it reduces the
woman to the status of an object used merely for sexual gratification. There is an immediate
need for a distinct law on FGM in India, which should be at par with the accepted
international norms on this issue.

Several practices carried out in the name of tradition violate basic rights of humans,
and Female Genital Mutilation is one of them and this is a concept that agonizes a woman to
the very core. The dread of having to face it and still have to silently suffer through it is an
unbearable thought that affects the psyche of the women. This self-enforced silence has a
very detrimental effect on the emotional, psychological and mental stability of women.
However, this silence is not exactly self-enforced. The lack of laws and abundant social
stigmas against the act of FGM is one of the primary reasons that the evil of violent traditions
is still hidden behind the sacrosanct of this society1.

The woman has been given the right to fight for protection when the violators are
outside entities, but when the perpetrator of her bodily integrity is the society and traditions,
with all the pomp and show, such protection is withdrawn by the legislators.

KEYWORDS: Tradition, Dignity, Emotional, Mental stability

1
Nidhi P Gopan, BBALLB, ALLIANCE UNIVERSITY, BENGALURU
Archana Babu, BBA LLB, ALLIANCE UNIVERSITY, BENGALURU
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is of human rights.2It is known as known as the practice of
changing or hurting the female genitalia for non-medical purpose. Globally around 200
million girls and women are still experiencing and had already experienced this violent
procedure . The process of FGM will increase if the practice continues at current levels even
if it is reducing in the majority of the countries where it is still common due to high rates of
population growth in these nations. During the year 2030 approximately 68 million girls can
be affected by genital mutilation . In order to deactivate this harmful practice, there should be
a significant push .The recent development of criminal legislation against FGM in several
African and Asian countries demonstrates that law alone cannot influence societal behavior.
Western nations have made law an important tool for improving the change in social
behavior. Our stance is that FGM must be recognized as a violation of women's and girls'
human rights since it is inextricably linked to systemic discrimination against women.

Gender inequality still poses a serious issue in Indian society3. Both in the home and at
business, women have been demoted to second-class status because traditional patriarchal
norms still exist. The patriarchal nature of Indian society is to blame for gender inequity. In
Indian society, discrimination against women has always been a problem. The religious
convictions, whether they are of a Hindu, Muslim, or other faith, lend credibility to the
patriarchal system. One of the darkest secrets of contemporary Indian prejudice, or perhaps
more accurately, inhuman treatment of women, is likely female genital mutilation. It is
commonly used in India, practiced by the Syedna Dawoodi Bohra-led Dawoodi Bohra
community, a sect of Shia Muslims4.

It combines practical field experience with academic theory in the context of human rights to
give the international community a better understanding of why FGM/C continues. When this

2
While the term “female genital mutilation” is commonly used by advocates of women’s rights and health
who wish to emphasize the damage caused by the procedure, many organizations have opted to use local
terminology or more neutral terms such as “female circumcision” or “female genital cutting.”
3
ANIKA RAHMAN & NAHID TOUBIA, FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: A GUIDE TO LAWS AND POLICIES
WORLDWIDE (2000)
4
Female Genital Mutilation: Secret Practice in India Suraiya Nazeer Department Central of Central Asian
Studies, of Kashmir
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damaging practise is carried out, girls and their families gain social standing, and it is a
deeply ingrained social habit respect, too. Shame results from not doing FGM also exclude
being aware of how and why FGM The ability to endure is essential for creating tactics that
most likely to result in the practice being discontinued.
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CHAPTER 2

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This project seeks to analyse not only laws of FGM in India but also prevailing laws on FGM
of other countries. It also covers the consequences of FGM on women and hurdles she face
due to this brutal culture. It doesn’t only talk of arguments raised for criminalization of FGM
but also arguments that were against criminalizing it. It also analyses FGM as a violation of
fundamental right guaranteed by constitution of India.

The limitation of this project is that it is based on secondary data rather than primary data. As
it was unable to conduct interviews and take report from them directly.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH:

 To Identify the social reasons behind relevance of FGM

 To Observe the legal steps taken by the government to enforce FGM as an offence
 To discover the obstacles arising in the recognition of FGM as an Offence.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Whether FGM can be still condemned even though it is part of the tradition?
2. Is legislation applicable to FGM being implemented in India?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research began with the question that whether FGM gives the traditions a license to
torture women. Whether Indian law protects women against this brutal offence? Why is it
that everything must be evaluated on terms of law? Can’t we have a sociological way of
bringing about change in the society? Why is it that we need to depend on a legal framework
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to bring about a change? Is a correct mindset not enough? Will awareness not be able to bring
about change? What does it take to change the mentality of people? These were the plethora
of questions which popped up in my mind before I went on to work. But obviously one
project is not enough to tackle all these questions.

Then case studies on various countries and condition prevailing there and how far marital
rape has affected the life of women and how this problem can be tackled.

The secondary data was collected through reputed journals, newspapers, websites, books etc.
This study brings out suggestions and inferences drawn from the analysis of both primary and
secondary data.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Article 14 of the Constitution of India provides equality before law and Article 21 ensures
right to life. In Kharak Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court of India by
clarifying the meaning of ‘life’ in Article 21 held that: “By the term ‘life’ as here used
something more is meant than mere animal existence”.
In Maneka Gandhi v Union of India, the Supreme Court gave new dimension to Article 21
and held that right to live is not merely a physical right but includes within its ambit the right
to live with human dignity.
Therefore, marital rape should be legalized in order to protect the sexual rights of women
under the system of marriage in accordance with Article 14 and 21.
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