What is the situation of victims of female genital mutilation (FGM)? Kandala and Komba brought a classic account of the medical and legal aspects of female genital mutilation to the world.
A Somber Picture
Methods
To provide an accurate and reliable assessment of current FGM/C practices in these countries and regions, we searched the DHS and MICS databases for data on FGM/C for women and their daughters. The aim of this approach was to provide reliable estimates of the number of women and girls affected by FGM/C and to compare pooled prevalence estimates and secular trends within and across regional borders.
Statistical Analysis
Meta-analysis of FGM/C Prevalence Estimates
With nationally representative samples of women and girls, these surveys produce data that allow calculation of FGM/C prevalence and secular trends at both national and sub-regional levels. To further assess the consistency of assumptions made by several researchers and to estimate prevalence in several age groups not included in the reports using a common denominator for each representative country and region, we extracted the most recent data and referring, as appropriate, to the same data published in their reports.
Secular Trend Analysis
To assess the percentage of variation across surveys, we inspected the forest plot and used the chi-square test and the I2 statistics (Higgins et al. 2003). This study was conducted and reported in accordance with the meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guideline (Stroup et al. 2000).
Results
- Included Survey Datasets
- Prevalence of FGM/C by Country and
- Age-Specific Prevalence of FGM/C
- Variations in FGM/C Prevalence by Survey
- Secular Trend in the Prevalence of FGM/C
The prevalence of FGM/C and 95% CI among adults aged 15–49 in West Africa varies widely between surveys. The prevalence of female genital mutilation/C and 95% CI among adults aged 15–49 years in Central Africa varies widely between studies.
Discussion and Conclusions
An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of the obstetric consequences of female genital mutilation/. Effectiveness of a community-based education program on abandoning female genital mutilation/cutting in Senegal.
Introduction
FGM/C Description
Since the year 2000, when these optional questions were added as part of the DHS, successive waves of these surveys have been conducted in 27 countries in SSA, ranging from six FGM/C surveys in Nigeria and Egypt to one in Cameroon with a prevalence of FGM/C among women ranging from 1% in Cameroon in 2004 to 92.3% in Egypt in 2014. Within the regions, the countries most influencing the changes were identified to map FGM/C using of the advanced statistical approach of spatial statistics to highlight some unique spatial features that will further increase our knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of FGM/C practice.
The Mapping of FGM/C Risks in Outline
FGM/C Prevalence Data, Modelling and Risk Mapping
The history of the development of the FGM/C questionnaire has been discussed elsewhere (Yoder et al. 2004; Creel 2001). The questions are designed to elicit information about prevalence rates and types of female genital mutilation in women and their daughters.
The Role of Spatial Factors and Spatial Modelling
We also test for bivariate and multivariate associations of well-known socioeconomic correlates of FGM/C. We use several modeling strategies to map the observed prevalence of FGM/C and predict prevalence based on current data.
Data Geo-Coding
DHS data are used within a Bayesian hierarchical spatiotemporal model implemented through Bayesian software such as Integrated Nested Laplace Approximations (INLA) for inference (Rue et al. 2009) and BayesX (Belitz et al. 2012) for producing FGM/ C.
Why Spatial: Data Structure and Sample Design
Some of this random variation can be reduced by relaxing the assumption of independence between neighboring provinces/districts. Such spatial analysis is preferably applied to census data, where the accuracy of the spatial analysis would be much higher.
The Benefits of Spatial Analysis Approach
We assess the likely impact of neglecting hierarchical structure and geographic location in analyzes of DHS data that ignore auto-correlation structure, time-varying and nonlinear effects, and dependence in the data. Not accounting for the posterior uncertainty in the spatial location (district or province) would overestimate the precision of the prediction of FGM/C risks in unsampled districts.
Statistical Analysis
The model assumes that f1( ), f2( ) and fstr are non-linear effects and that the spatial effects are the same across the country. Multivariate Bayesian geoadditive regression models were used to evaluate the significance of POR determined for fixed effects and spatial effects during FGM prevalence in Senegal.
Mapping Prevalence of FGM/C in Selected Countries
In the fully adjusted model, a number of individual-level factors were found to be associated with the likelihood of FGM/C. The data summarized in Table 3.10 describe the circumstances surrounding the practice of FGM/C in the Central African Republic.
Discussion and Implications
Evaluation of the national plan of action for the abolition of the practice of female genital mutilation. Contingency and change in the practice of female genital cutting: dynamics of decision-making in Senegambia.
Introduction
Clarifying the Notion and Building Practical Knowledge
What Is FGM/C?
Yet the concept of mutilation indicates that the practice is prima facie bad, barbaric, primitive and amounts to torture, discrimination and inhumane treatment. Authors such as Shell-Duncan (2011) prefer the word 'cutting', which she believes is less stigmatizing than FGM to describe the practice.
WHO and UNICEF Classifications
This is because a genital finding observed in some patients may not always be consistent with the official classifications in Tables 4.1 and 4.2. Before examining the health risks and consequences of FGM, we want to graphically show where those official classifications fit into genital anatomy and physiology.
Health Impacts in Non-clinical Settings
The basis of such an attack is that medicine hides the fact that FGM, performed even under modern clinical conditions, has a detrimental effect on the patient's long-term well-being and can endanger her life, especially during childbirth. When labor is prolonged, the patient may experience necrosis of the tissue that separates the bladder and vagina due to the pressure of the fetal head on the bony sides of the pubis.
Health Impacts in Clinical Settings
Prolonged retention of the fetal vulva in circumcised women giving birth results in fetal distress. Despite these shortcomings, it is accepted without doubt that the type of FGM is certainly one of the contributing factors.
Introduction
Taking History
Genital Examination
Recording and Read Coding the Diagnosis
This means that the patient is thoroughly physically examined before a rational treatment and treatment plan is devised. This would then justify a detailed specialist examination of the clitoris using detection instruments such as a colposcope and relying on the opinions of other experts (Martinelli and Ollé-Goig 2012).
Management
De-infibulation is a reconstructive operation of the scar tissue caused by the suture of the labia majora during infibulation. It consists of several parts: the main part, the bodies, anchored on the pelvic bone.
Monitoring and Safeguarding
This corrective intervention is practiced to respond to a wider range of limitations than to deal with painful consequences and improve quality of life as well as the physical integrity of the patient. Pending such research, one can assume that the extent of FGM suffered by the patient and the severity of her complaint may in some cases hinder recovery from trauma and the improvement of the quality of sexual life. 2012) acknowledges this point and states that a health professional confronted with FGM patient should initiate consultation and screening to detect potential complications related to FGM to which the patient has been subjected.
Training
The technique and the first results have been described in several publications focusing mainly on the French context [Ibidem]. The extent to which professional health care responsibility will be involved will also need to be part of that training, and the study of the laws of each country (to which we now turn) should also be part of that training (Foldes and Louis- Sylvestre 2006; Villani 2009; Villani and Andro 2010).
Ethics
Costs
However, it must be borne in mind that in developing African countries such interventions will require considerable expenditure and the question is who should bear those costs. In any event, where trials take longer to complete and the outcome is not easy to enforce, it would be unrealistic to suggest that the costs for remedial interventions should come from monetary compensation to the victims.
Conclusion
Factors influencing the burden of healthcare financing and the distribution of healthcare benefits in Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa. Female Genital Circumcision (FGC) and the Ethics of Care: Community Engagement and Cultural Sensitivity at the Intersection of Migration Experiences.
Introduction
Burkina Faso
Criminal Law
Private Law
On the other hand, the Code provides for joint and several liability in respect of the injustice related to FGM/C. This means that the Code can be used to prosecute both the principal offender and his or her accomplices.
Enforcement
In addition, the plaintiff must prove the causal link between the act/omission and the injury sustained; it must also prove that the loss or injury is an immediate and direct consequence of the suspect's acts or omissions.
CHAD
Criminal Law and Enforcement
Child Protection Laws
Sentencing
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Criminal Liability
In 2006, the DRC passed a law that introduced changes to the sexual violence provisions of the Criminal Code, including the ban on genital mutilation (see DRC 2006 and DRC Criminal Code 2016). While genital mutilation can theoretically be treated as a form of genital mutilation, the law does not consider the practice to be a form of mutilation, especially when carried out outside the context of traditional war-related sexual violence.
Sentencing
The Congolese criminal code does not specifically address acts of sexual violence, such as inserting objects into the vagina and clitoris, which could be interpreted to have the same effect as female genital mutilation (see Nainar 2012). This is an area that clearly awaits legislative reform to address the new gender-based crimes that have gripped the country following the brutal wars the DRC has experienced in recent years.
Civil Liability
Djibouti
The Law
Enforcement
Egypt
The Law
It was stated that the new decree was intended to restrict the practice of FGM. However, it appears that the decree was issued in response to pressure from religious real estate sectors (Masriya 2016).
Enforcement
Under Section 240 of the Egyptian Penal Code, it is an offense to carry out or approve the practice. The verdict in favor of the victim fell when an appellate court found that the harm done to the victim required appropriate punishment under the law.
Ethiopia
The Law
The decision is significant because it represented the first case where Article 242 of the Penal Code criminalizing FGM in Egypt was applied. The appeal process was a result of the negligence of the trial judge, who was described as biased and influenced by retrograde traditions (Ibid).
Ghana
The Law
Guinea
Ivory Coast
Criminal Liability
The Constitution
Enforcement
Madagascar
Mali
Senegal
The press has suggested that the passing of the law pushed the practice into secrecy. These NGOs campaign to bring knowledge of the law to the people and engage local communities in dropout plans.
Sierra Leone
The Law
The Senegalese model can be considered the best example for the rest of the world in tackling FGM. In other words, although in most cases those convicted under the law are liable for fines and prison sentences, enforcement of the law is ineffective – which is due to the low fines, short term of prison sentence and the sympathy of law enforcement officers. due to the cultural nature of FGM.
South Africa
The Law
The involvement of various stakeholders suggests that the solution to banning FGM cannot simply be strict legal enforcement.
Enforcement
Sudan
Tanzania
The Law
Enforcement
Uganda
The Law
Nevertheless, there have been tribes that have confessed that they will continue their practice despite the new law (12). It now remains to be seen what will happen once the new law has been applied and has had time to mature (US State Department 2011).
Enforcement
Conclusion
Working to End Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting in Tanzania - The Church's Role and Response, commissioned by Tearfund. Female Genitalia: Cultural Rights and Rituals of Defiance in Northern Tanzania: African Studies Review.
Introduction
Belgium
- Criminal Liability
- Extra-Territoriality
- Limitation Period
- Sentencing
- Liability of Health Professionals
Section 409 of the Penal Code states that FGM is punishable by a prison sentence of 3–5 years for the author (exector) or any person who practises, facilitates or encourages such treatment. Article 21bis of the Criminal Procedure Code states that the 10-year limitation period runs from the day the victim reaches the age of 18.
France
Criminal Liability
The penalty for the offense committed against a minor under the age of 14 is 15 years in prison (Article 222-10, first paragraph, of the French Penal Code) or 20 years if committed by a relative or a person in authority over the minor (§ 222-10, penultimate paragraph, in the Criminal Code). Finally, to the extent that genital mutilation involves torture or barbaric acts, it will be punishable by 5 years in prison (Article 222-1 of the Penal Code), or 20 years if committed against a child under 15 or a specific person. - very vulnerable person because of his age (Article 222-3, second paragraph of the French Penal Code).
Enforcement
Parents can be prosecuted as accomplices to the restrictive conditions of article 113-5 of the Criminal Code. The code of the entry and residence of foreigners and asylum does not provide for the granting of rights of special security to parents placed in this situation.
Spain
The Law
In practice, depending on the processing time of the prefecture files, such provisions put families in a difficult life situation: without the right of residence, parents cannot be entitled either to legal employment or to certain rights related to legal residence on French territory. .
Enforcement
Sweden
Switzerland
- The Law
- Sentencing
- Limitation Period
- Consent as a Defence
- Extraterritoriality
Thus, the perpetrator of the crime can be prosecuted regardless of where the crime was committed. One of the important aspects of criminal law in Switzerland is that any criminal action can be barred if it is not filed within 15 years from the time the serious bodily injury occurred.
United Kingdom
- Criminal Liability
- Duty to Notify Police of FGM Under Section 74
- Sentencing
- Application of the Law
- Liability of the Principal
- Accessory Liability
- The Evidential Test
- Defences
- Childcare Proceedings
- Immigration
The policy directs prosecutors to consider “the impact on the victim of the decision whether to prosecute; and any views of the victim'. This first Code test ('the evidence test') concerns the question of whether or not it is more than likely that the criminal offense can be proven, given the elements of the criminal offense and the admissible evidence.
Conclusion
Available at http://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/current_situation_and_trends_of_female_genital_mutilation_in_spain_en.pdf. European legislation on female genital mutilation and the implementation of legislation in Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Canada
- The Canadian Legal System
- Principles
- The Criminal Law
- Civil Liability and the Duty to Report FGM
Canada is a party to several international human rights conventions similar or identical to those in the Charter. The legal obligation to report applies to all citizens and all those who report children in the course of their profession or official duties.
United States
Criminal Liability
Defences
Conclusion
Indonesia
Furthermore, a study dated 2003, conducted by the Population Council, indicated that the widespread medicalization of the practice in Indonesia has potentially increased the number of female genital mutilations and leads to more invasive forms of mutilation (cut, excision). A 2010 Amnesty International report on women's health in Indonesia confirms the continuing practice and certain characteristics of female genital mutilation presented in these studies.
Iraq
The Law
The Domestic Violence Act 2011 makes it a criminal offense to carry out FGM, which is considered a form of violence against children. The law came into effect on 11 August 2011, including several provisions to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM), which is internationally recognized as a form of violence against women.
Enforcement
Yemen
The Law
Moreover, early marriage is only part of the problem, as abuse often continues in the form of sexual violence and FGM. For example, one of Pakistan's local parliaments voted in favor of a law introducing a minimum age for marriage of 18 years.
Enforcement
Within the boundaries of the comprehensive Yemeni Law on Children's Rights, the minimum age for marriage is 18, in accordance with international human rights; in addition, it prohibits female genital mutilation (FGM). The Yemeni Minister of Human Rights, Hooria Mashhour, and other government actors facilitated the creation of the official legislation.
Australia
- Criminal Liability
- Extra-Territoriality
- Defenses
- Enforcement
- Immigration and FGM
In this section, female genital mutilation means an act as referred to in section 45, subsection e) If the execution would be an offense against that section if executed in the State. It is no defense to a charge under this section that the person maimed by or because of the acts alleged consented to them.
New Zealand
The Law
Section 204 of the Act (as amended) makes it unlawful to perform any medical or surgical procedure or to mutilate the vagina or clitoris of any person based on culture, religion, custom or practice. One of the reasons for changing the law was to enable the country to fulfill its contractual obligations, especially those from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Exterritorialy
Sentencing
Conclusion
We also noted that consent is not a defense to the offense under the anti-FGM provisions. FGM is indeed a violation of the right to life and discrimination; and the extent to which legislation on female genital mutilation is necessary given that the offenses of female genital mutilation are punishable under the existing criminal provisions for grievous bodily harm.
Whether Prosecution Is in the Public Interest
Under these provisions, the crime of FGM depends on proof that an FGM operation has actually taken place or on the likelihood that it will take place (protection of girls at risk), regardless of the type of FGM carried out and its consequences for the health.
Prescribed by the Law and the Rule of Law
Now, in the context of freedom of conscience, thought and religion, it can be argued that this constitutes one of the fundamental conditions for its progress and self-fulfilment. In our view, there are serious concerns about whether FGM laws that arbitrarily ban all forms, regardless of the degree of risk, are necessary in a democratic society.
Are the FGM Legislative Measures Capable of Meeting
Proportionality: A Fair Balance Between Interference
Discrimination
One of the reasons for the adoption of global measures against female genital mutilation was this practice, which discriminates against women. For example, the DRC Family Code sets the age of consent as 15 (Mbambi and Faray-Kele 2010).
Is FGM Torture Within the Meaning of International Laws?
Discrimination should be limited to cases where society does not treat circumcised women less favorably than those who are circumcised. In addition, Article 448 of the Congolese family code states that a married woman cannot open a bank account or enter into an employment contract with her employer without prior authorization from her husband.
Conclusions
Beskikbaar by http://europeanpapers.eu/en/europeanforum/license-to-presume-the-compatibility- between-the-european-convention-of-human-rights-and-security-council-resolutions. Beskikbaar by https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/The- Investigation-and-Prosecution-of-Sexual-Violence-SV-Working-Paper.pdf.
Analysis of International Instruments
Child’s Rights
The Right to Health or the Right to Health Care
The Right of Women to Be Free From Discrimination
The Right to Life and Physical Integrity
The Right to Be Free from Torture
Regional Legal Instruments and Remedies
Introduction
State Liability in Respect of FGM Perpetrators
Existence of Treaty Obligation upon the State
Breach of State Obligation
Remedies
Defences
Force Majeure Defense
Lack of International Wrongdoing
Litigation Before the CEDAW Committee
Litigation Before the Human Rights Committee
Proceedings Before the African Commission on Human
Proceedings Before the African Committee of Experts
Proceedings Before the African Court of Justice
Proceedings Before the ECOWAS Court of Justice
Conclusion
Introduction
A Test for the European Court of Human Rights
A Test for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
A Test for the African States’ Compliance with African
