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9 Diritto & Questioni Pubbliche 485 (2009)
Revisiting the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Discourse

handle is hein.journals/dirquesp9 and id is 476 raw text is: MARIA CATERINA LA BARBERA Revisiting the anti-Female Genital Mutilation Discourse 1. Introduction - 2. What is in a Name? - 3. Why are Ritual Female Genital Cuttings Performed? - 4. Anti-FGA Laws in Colonial Africa - 5. Notes on Victorian Clitoridectomy, Designer Vaginoplasty, and Silicone Breast Implant - 6. Controlling Processes: the Concept ofHealth -7. Conclusions 1. Introduction All forms of ritual female genital cuttings have increasingly been object of legislation, not only in African countries where they have mostly been per- formed, but also in Western countries where African migrants have been set- tled'. Western legislators have adopted two main different approaches: either prosecuting ritual female genital cuttings under the existing penal law or making ad hoc laws. Their symbolic function is evidently different as well as the results. Albeit making a specific law condemns openly the practices, it is remarkable that the only Western country were ritual female genital cuttings are systemati- 2 cally prosecuted is France, where it is done under the existing criminal law. Prosecuting these practices under the pre-existent criminal law guarantees the formal respect of the equal protection principle because the law is applicable to everyone regardless of the ethnicity. Yet, as a matter of fact, these practices are perfonned only by one part of the population, specifically by migrants from former colonies. Vice versa, ad hoc laws recognize the specificity and See, for example, in the UK, the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 (replaced by the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003); in the USA, the Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (1995), integrated in specific legislations at the state level; in Italy, the recent law n. 7/2006, Provisions Concerning the Prevention and Ban of the Practice of Female Genital Mutilation. 2 The article 222-9 of the French Penal Code states: ((The violence that leads to mutilation or permanent infirmity is punishable by ten years imprisonment and a fine of 150.000 euros>> [the translation is mine]. Also in The Netherlands ritual female genital cuttings have been considered a criminal offence under the preexistent criminal law since 1992, but not a single court case has taken place.