Female Genital Mutilation In India

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is practised in India by some Islamic groups. The procedure is generally performed when a girl is seven years old and involves the total or partial removal of the clitoral hood. Consequences of FGM may range from discomfort to sepsis.

Practice

Occurrence

FGM is practised by the Dawoodi Bohra, a sect of Shia Islam with one million members in India. Known as khatna, khafz, and khafd, the procedure is performed on six- or seven-year-old girls and involves the total or partial removal of the clitoral hood. The spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohra, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, stated in 2016: "Religious books, written over a thousand years ago, specify the requirements for both males and females as acts of religious purity." The statement also emphasized the need to "respect the law of the land". Other Bohra sects including the Sulemani Bohras and the Alavi Bohras, as well as some Sunni communities in Kerala, are reported as practising FGM.

Consequences

Dr. Meghana Reddy J, a gynaecologist, reported in 2018 that khatna can lead to complications in later life, including difficult deliveries and urinary infections. In one case a girl had developed sepsis after having had khatna and great effort had been required to revive her.

In conjunction with a small study, the first of its kind in India, twenty Bohra women were examined by Dr. Sujaat Vali, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, who reported that only a specialist would be able to separate and cut the clitoral hood without also cutting the clitoris, and the clitoris had been cut in most cases examined. According to Vali, "[h]alf of them feel some kind of irritation, while 30% either feel discomfort while walking/urinating or have lost sensitivity in the area." The study covered 83 women and 11 men from five Indian states and found that 75 percent of the respondents' daughters who were at least seven years old had been subjected to FGM.

Activism

Opposition

In November 2011 a Bohra woman posted an online petition requesting that Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, religious leader of the Dawoodi Bohras, ban FGM. A spokesman ruled out any change saying "Bohra women should understand that our religion advocates the procedure and they should follow it without any argument."

Two Mumbai-based groups, Sahiyo and We Speak Out, launched a campaign in February 2016 called "Each One Reach One"; the campaign was repeated during Ramadan in 2017. The campaign promoted conversations about female genital cutting. In an online survey of Bohra women, Sahiyo found that khatna had been performed on 80 percent of participants, with most cut when aged six or seven; 81 percent wanted the practice to stop.

On 10 December 2016 (Human Rights Day), a group of Dawoodi Bohra women started an online petition calling for FGM to be banned. A similar petition was conducted by the group a year earlier; that petition was submitted to India's Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. Also that month, Dawoodi Bohra women petitioned the United Nations demanding that India be recognised as a country where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is practised. In September 2017, when the 36th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was conducting a Universal Periodic Review of India, a written submission on FGM in India was presented at a side event. That was the first time the issue of FGM in India had been raised at the United Nations.

Support

The Dawoodi Bohra Women for Religious Freedom (DBWRF) was established in May 2017 by six Bohra women to support their "beliefs, customs, culture and religious rights". It claims to represent the views of nearly 75,000 women who are followers of Mufaddal Saifuddin. The DBWRF states that the form of FGM practiced by the Dawoodi Bohra is a harmless procedure and not mutilation.

DBWRF's stated mission is to "stand for the rights of Dawoodi Bohra women in India" to ensure they have the same freedom as other citizens, particularly by defending women who are victimised for their religious beliefs, practices, customs and culture. In the face of controversy, DBWRF has taken the lead in ensuring that the practice of FGM is protected. In July 2018, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented the DBWRF during proceedings in the Supreme Court and stated that "the practice of khafz is an essential part of the religion as practised by Dawoodi Bohra Community and their right to practise and propagate religion is protected under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India".

Supreme Court

In May 2017 a public interest litigation (PIL) case was raised in India's Supreme Court. The case was filed by Sunita Tiwari, a lawyer based in Delhi, seeking a ban on FGM in India. The Supreme Court received the petition and sought responses from four states and four ministries of the central government.

An advocate for the petition claimed the practice violated children's rights under Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution of India, while an advocate opposing the petition argued that khafz is an essential part of the community's religion, and their right to practise the religion is protected under Articles 25 and 26.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development reported in December 2017 that "there is no official data or study which supports the existence of FGM in India." Earlier, in May 2017, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi announced that the government will ban FGM if it is not voluntarily stopped.

In April 2018 India's Attorney General K. K. Venugopal asked a bench of the Supreme Court to issue directions regarding the case, saying that FGM was already a crime under existing law. The bench adjourned the case and issued notices to Kerala and Telangana, having earlier notified Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi.

In September 2018 the Supreme Court referred the PIL to a five-judge constitution bench at the request of Venugopal and the counsel for the Dawoodi Bohras. In November 2019, the Supreme Court decided that the issue of FGM be referred to a larger seven-judge bench and that it be examined alongside other women's rights issues. The court said it was a "seminal issue" regarding the power of the court to decide whether a practice is essential to a religion.