Baksidan av en god idé : en idéanalys av kriminaliserande lagstiftning mot FGM/C och dess påverkan för afrikanska kvinnor och flickor

Sammanfattning: In Africa there are approximately 91,5 million women and girls who have been subject to the traditional practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). Mothers subject their daughters to FGM/C as an act of love as society regards this to be the process a girl becomes a woman; furthermore a non-circumcised woman is deemed as unfit for marriage. This perception stems from deeply rooted social structures and creates a strong peer pressure where people consider the practice of FGM/C as a highly contributive part of the future premises for the girl. The international community's view of FGM/C is that it is a violation to women and girls’ fundamental freedom and rights, and demands that the practice is abolished. Organizations such as WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA propose that creation of laws against FGM/C as an effective means to end the practice. This paper will investigate the different consequences a law against FGM/C could have for African women and girls. Subsequently this paper will put forth, with the help of effect oriented idea analyzes, that a law prohibiting FGM/C could have an elongated negative consequences on African women and girls. In spite of this, a law prohibiting the practice of FGM/C must be considered a necessary response so that future generations will be free from FGM/C.