1 / 8

What are the ramifications of framing FGC as a human rights violation?

Framing FGC: Health and Human Rights Approaches Bettina Shell-Duncan, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology University of Washington. What are the ramifications of framing FGC as a human rights violation? What perils and pitfalls potentially arise from a rights-based framework?.

penn
Download Presentation

What are the ramifications of framing FGC as a human rights violation?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Framing FGC: Health and Human Rights ApproachesBettina Shell-Duncan, Ph.D.Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Washington

  2. What are the ramifications of framing FGC as a human rights violation? • What perils and pitfalls potentially arise from a rights-based framework?

  3. Previous Frameworks for Justifying Intervention • Health Framework “Genital mutilation should be treated as a public health problem and recognized as an impediment to development that can be prevented and eradicated much like any disease.” -Fran Hosken (1978: 151)

  4. “Problems” Emanating from the Health Framework • Failed to motivate behavior change • Credibility gap • Difficulty in establishing the “medical facts” • Encouragement of medicalization

  5. Human Rights Framework 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights 1) FGC classified as a form of violence against women (VAW) 2) VAW recognized a a human rights violation

  6. Doctrinist Claims to Define FGC as a Human Rights Violation • 1) Rights of the child • 2) Rights of women • 3) Freedom from torture • 4) The right to health and bodily integrity

  7. Perils and Pitfalls of the Human Rights Framework • 1) Can view the problems and solutions too narrowly • 2) Imposition of a Western human rights culture • 3) Undermine women’s agency • 4) Unresolved questions concerning consent

  8. Recommendations • Assess, anticipate and attempt to avert pitfalls • Conduct research on how legislative measures contribute to changes in FGC • Seek to understand how legal measures interact with other change efforts

More Related