From Comparison to Paradox to the Dichotomous Nature of International Human Rights and Feminist Perspectives of Female Circumcision as a Violation of the Human Rights of Women

This author argues that female genital cutting (FGC) must be legally classified as violence against women or torture in order to gain recognition under the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Current arguments of cultural relativism and religious freedom relegate FGC to the arena of the family or of medicine, under which it may still be practiced in certain circumstances. The author acknowledges that Western feminism must incorporate or allow for varying culture, and argues for the participation and inclusion of women who experience FGC in the fight to eradicate it. [Descriptors: Reprodutive Rights - Female Genital Cutting, International]