Legislating against adult women’s consent to female genital mutilation : a feminist analysis of state practice in light of the Joint General Comment on Female Genital Mutilation by the African Commission and the African Children’s Committee

Abstract

This contribution is concerned with women who opt to undergo female genital mutilation in adulthood. While contentious, the idea that a woman can consent to FGM is condoned in certain African countries in law and in practice. There is an uneven treatment of consent in relevant FGM laws on the continent. States have an obligation to eradicate the practice of FGM, including ensuring that consenting to FGM is impermissible in law. This contribution scrutinises an equality argument in support of consent to FGM for adult women, investigates states’ legislative approaches to consent as adopted by select member states that are party to the African Women’s Protocol and whether their laws adopt a wholistic approach to eradicating FGM. These approaches are considered from a feminist perspective taking account of the historical place of feminist analysis in the formulation of FGM as a human rights issue under international law. It includes a consideration of state obligations in the African Women’s Protocol and the recent Joint General Comment on FGM adopted by the African Commission and the African Children’s Committee. It aims to recommend legislative standards that can be applied on the continent to increase the effectiveness of laws criminalising FGM in order to eradicate the practice.