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Why Is There No FGM Law in India

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is still practiced in parts of India, such as among the Muslim Bohra community where young girls' clitorises are removed. While India has signed declarations against FGM as a human rights violation, there is no strict law against the practice. Victims who have spoken out have started a legal battle to ban FGM in India. This paper examines the current situation regarding FGM law in India, provisions in existing laws related to FGM, and debates around religious freedom versus individual rights as India considers implementing an FGM ban.

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vatsal pandey
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59 views1 page

Why Is There No FGM Law in India

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is still practiced in parts of India, such as among the Muslim Bohra community where young girls' clitorises are removed. While India has signed declarations against FGM as a human rights violation, there is no strict law against the practice. Victims who have spoken out have started a legal battle to ban FGM in India. This paper examines the current situation regarding FGM law in India, provisions in existing laws related to FGM, and debates around religious freedom versus individual rights as India considers implementing an FGM ban.

Uploaded by

vatsal pandey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION : A FEUDAL APPROACH IN INDIA

India is a signatory to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which declares
Female Genital Mutilation (herein afterwards referred as ‘FGM’) a serious human rights
violation. But it was not even on the radar of the UN until a group of women submitted a
petition to recognize India as one of the countries where FGM is still practised. FGM- also
known as ‘khatna’ or ‘khafz’ in the Muslim Bohra community is the clipping or removal of
the clitoris or mutilating and removing other female genitalia of the young girls when they
are six or seven years old in the belief that it will curb a woman’s sexual drive. The victims at
the hands of the Bohra tradition have taken to public forums to share their experiences and
abhor the customary cutting or nipping of genitalia. This started a legal battle against FGM.
The main issue in India regarding FGM is whether there should be a law or not. Even though
IPC provides punishment for practice of FGM, no strict action has been taken by the police
till now.

The present paper focus on the present situation of FGM law in India as compared to the
situation in other countries where FGM is banned, the provisions in IPC and POCSO Act in
relation to FGM and its compliance thereof, how the resistance by the victims started the
legal battle for banning FGM in India and why there is no law banning FGM. This paper also
attempts to analyse the rights of the victims, the conflict between the religious freedom
guaranteed under article 25 and right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under article 21
and lastly whether such law when made will be effective or not. Hence through this paper, the
author makes effort to find the hidden aspect of FGM law in India.

Keywords:- Human Rights, FGM, Religious freedom, life and liberty.

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