Female genital mutilation violates a series of well established human rights principles, norms and standards, including the principles of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex, the right to life when the procedure results in death, and the right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as well as the rights identified below. As it interferes with healthy genital tissue in the absence of medical necessity and can lead to severe consequences for a woman’s physical and mental health, female genital mutilation is a violation of a person’s right to the highest attainable standard of health.
THE RIGHTS OF A CHILD
Because of children’s vulnerability and their need for care and support, human rights law grants them special protection. One of the guiding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the primary consideration of ‘the best interests of the child’. Parents who take the decision to submit their daughters to female genital mutilation perceive that the benefits to be gained from this procedure outweigh the risks involved. However, this perception cannot justify a permanent and potentially life-changing practice that constitutes a violation of girls’ fundamental human rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child refers to the evolving capacity of children to make decisions regarding matters that affect them. However, for female genital mutilation, even in cases where there is an apparent agreement or desire by girls to undergo the procedure, in reality it is the result of social pressure and community expectations and stems from the girls’ aspiration to be accepted as full members of the community. That is why a girl’s decision to undergo female genital mutilation cannot be called free, informed or free of coercion. Legal instruments for the protection of children’s rights specifically call for the abolition of traditional practices prejudicial to their health and lives. The Convention on the Rights of the Child makes explicit reference to harmful traditional practices and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as other United Nations Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Bodies, have frequently raised female genital mutilation as a violation of human rights, calling upon State Parties to take all effective and appropriate measures to abolish the practice.
Female genital mutilation has been recognized as discrimination based on sex because it is rooted in gender inequalities and power imbalances between men and women and inhibits women’s full and equal enjoyment of their human rights. It is a form of violence against girls and women, with physical and psychological consequences. Female genital mutilation deprives girls and women from making an independent decision about an intervention that has a lasting effect on their bodies and infringes on their autonomy and control over their lives. The right to participate in cultural life and freedom of religion are protected by international law. However, international law stipulates that freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs might be subject to limitations necessary to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. Therefore, social and cultural claims cannot be evoked to justify female genital mutilation (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 18.3; UNESCO, 2001, Article 4).
Even though it has been internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women; and criminalised in Nigeria, FGM still occurs on a scale of massive proportions, especially among the less educated.
According to data from the Nigeria Demographics and Health Survey, 24.8 percent of Nigerian girls and women aged 15 to 49 have been circumcised, with states in the southeast region accounting for 45 percent of FGM cases; and south-western states accounting for up to 55 percent.
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