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From Health to Human Rights: Female Genital Cutting and the Politics of Intervention
Author(s) -
SHELLDUNCAN BETTINA
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2008.00028.x
Subject(s) - human rights , deliberation , framing (construction) , autonomy , politics , female circumcision , political science , intervention (counseling) , law and economics , law , sociology , medicine , engineering , gynecology , nursing , structural engineering
The international campaign to eliminate female genital cutting (FGC) has, since the early 1990s, actively attempted to divorce itself from a health framework, adopting instead a human rights framework to justify intervention. Several key questions emerge regarding the prominent placement of FGC in the international human rights movement: What are the ramifications of framing FGC as a human rights violation? What actions are mandated by a human rights approach? What perils and pitfalls potentially arise from the adoption of a rights‐based framework, and how might they be avoided? In exploring these questions it becomes clear that, although a human rights approach is promising, careful deliberation is required to develop action strategies that offer both protection and respect for the culture and autonomy of those women and families concerned.