By WeSpeakOut:
February 6 is observed as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by the United Nations, every year. On this occasion, WeSpeakOut – a survivor-led organization – unequivocally pledged to continue its efforts to eradicate FGM in India. It is proud to be supported by several human rights organizations, globally and in India.
FGM, defined by the World Health Organisation as “the total or partial removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”, is widely prevalent in the Bohra Community and some other minorities, in India.
There are many terms and acronyms to describe female genital mutilation (FGM); female genital cutting (FGC), female circumcision (FC), Khatna and Khafz. In the Bohra Community specifically, it involves the cutting of a seven-year-old girl’s clitoral hood.
“Ending FGM’s terminology barrier is WeSpeakOut’s specific goal this year. Khafz is FGM.” says Masooma Ranalvi, convener of WeSpeakOut while speaking to Mirror.
According to Masooma, “There is an attempt being made to confuse and obfuscate the gravity of the practice of FGM by using differing terminologies, claiming that FGM is barbaric, while Khafz is more civilized. This use of different terms is only meant to belittle the harm caused by Khafz, by glorifying it.”
The practice of FGM is condemned by international human rights treaties to which India is a party. India has also pledged to eliminate FGM as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (target 5.3).
As reported in The Quint,“On July 30, 2018, WeSpeakOut and Equality Now collaborated for their first event titled “Eliminating Harmful Practices, Meeting SDG Commitments – Roundtable on FGM/C/Khafz in India”, where representatives from the global anti-FGM movement and UN agencies discussed the concerted, comprehensive and collaborative approach among government, civil society, survivors, communities, and international actors, required to eliminate this harmful practice by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.”
In September 2018, the SC referred to a PIL– seeking a ban on FGM – to a 5 judge constitutional bench. WeSpeakOut is also an intervener in this petition. Before this referral, a three-judge bench of then CJI Dipak Misra, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice AM Khanwilkar observed that FGM/Khafz prima facie appears to be a violation of the right to privacy guaranteed by the Constitution, and the bodily integrity of the child. The Court also noted that there seems to be no scientific or medical basis for the practice of FGM/Khafz, which is likely to cause a significant amount of trauma, pain, and bleeding.
While the practice of FGM does fall under certain sections of the Indian Penal Code, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2013, India does not have any specific law prohibiting the practice of FGM/Khafz.
Last year WeSpeakOut published the first groundbreaking study on the prevalence, nature, and consequence of this practice in the community. According to the study, 75% of all daughters of the sample set were subjected to FGM/C, which means it continues to be practiced on little girls. 97% of women who remembered their FGM/C experience from childhood recalled it as painful. While most women said they suffered immediate pain from the procedure only, 2 women said they did not have any immediate or long-term impact from FGM/C.
While sharing extremely personal information, approximately 33% of the women subjected to FGM/C in the study believe it has negatively impacted their sexual life. Many respondents in the study reported feeling fear, anxiety, shame, anger, depression, low self-esteem, and/or betrayal of trust as some of the fallouts that they associated with their FGM/C.
It has been proven that deep-seated patriarchal practices like FGM can be eliminated only if there is a strong political and public will to do so.