FGM and genital cutting across borders: cultural biases in the contestation of global human rights

Abstract

Global norms developed within the United Nations system have constructed female genital mutilation (FGM) exclusively as a set of non-Western practices. Consistent with these global norms, Western countries have adopted anti-FGM laws targeting non-Western practices while allowing Western genital modification procedures, including female genital cosmetic surgeries (FGCS), male circumcision, and genital ‘normalization’ surgeries performed on intersex children. These legal inconsistencies suggest that global governance of FGM represents an effort to maintain gendered and racialized social orders reflecting the values of dominant groups. This article examines global norms condemning FGM and anti-FGM laws in Western countries as sites of power and contestation of fundamental human rights.