Female Circumcision Female Genital Mutilation a Human Rights Violation a Case Study of Ethiopia

This book studies the inhumane practice of Female Circumcision/ Female Genital Mutilation (FC/FGM) from a human rights perspective. It attempts to understand the reasons for the continued prevalence of this archaic practice in several countries in Africa and more specifically in Ethiopia. Case studies in this book highlight that high levels of illiteracy, entrenched patriarchy and other sociocultural reasons are the major causative factors. As a consequence millions of young girls who have little control over decisions about their body are forced to undergo such a brutal practice till date. The book brings forth the irony that woman themselves; as mothers are the major advocates for subjecting their daughters to FC/FGM under the guise of culture and tradition. The book unravels the direct link between higher education and the decline in their prevalence rates of FC/FGM through case studies from Ethiopia and other countries on the continent. FC/FGM is not an insurmountable issue but one that is being tackled, albeit at slower pace than that is desirable, through education and awareness campaigns. What is heartening is that some of the victims of FC/FGM have turned out to be its biggest critics and are now leading antiFC/FGM campaigns through local, national as well as international organisations; mainly the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO) and NGOs. This book deals with the subject from a historical as well as a contemporary perspective.