Les Ateliers de l’Ethique (May 2007)
La circoncision des femmes en Afrique : repenser les politiques de santé
Abstract
Governor General Michaëlle Jean, while in Mali in November, said she supported the Maputo Protocol which “clearly states that the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is a violation of basic human rights” and wished “ no more little girls would ever again be subjected to such a torture”. This has been the key message to African countries, i.e., that FGM is an act of violence against women and girls as a results of gender inequalities. FGM is associated with violent acts such as rape, human trafficking, forced abortion, and infanticide of baby girls, to name only a few. This feminist approach to the issue, however, does not take into account the full complexity of the cultural, emotional and cognitive aspects of the practice that has been documented in recent years. Health policies put forward to abolish the practice have been remarkably unilateral without any options for mediation or negotiation. Participation of health practitioners with FGM have also been strongly opposed. Not surprisingly then, interventions and health policies have proven mostly ineffective in diminishing the practice. But these policies remain unquestioned, as demonstrated by the Governor General’s recent speech. This “power focus” feminist approach to the problem of FGM has been mostly motivated by repulsion and can be seen as a form of moral and cultural imperialism. Meanwhile, few words are said about other traditional practices that also affect African children’s or about our own western practices. I argue that it is time to rethink FMG policies in a just and caring perspective, and evaluate more flexible approaches that have been proposed such as harm reduction and behaviour changing models.
