FGC is a human rights violation because it damages healthy tissue on a girl’s body without her permission.
It contravenes allowances in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Banjul Charter), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Female genital cutting increases and perpetuates inequality. In many countries, it is a condition of marriage; the act of FGC also has to happen before child marriage can take place.
The health problems caused by female genital cutting contravene the right to health which everyone has.
Female genital cutting is a way of forcibly controlling women’s sexuality and attempting to ensure that women will be faithful to their chosen partners.
The most successful, holistic approach towards ending female genital cutting, as found by our delivery partner Tostan in West Africa, is to talk about human rights with communities.
Humans are empathic, social animals. When we see that our human rights are the same as everyone else’s, and that something we are doing goes against the human rights we are all entitled to, it is easier to understand and to make the change towards ending the practice.
