Strategies for the fight against female genital mutilation in Europe

Abstract

[EN] European countries face the challenge of multiculturalism and they are at loggerheads with practices such as FGM, where conflict arises between respect for the values upheld within a given culture and the criminal laws of the host country. In the present contribution, the author attempts to unravel the problem of whether this practice, despite the repugnance that it evokes in us, should be subject to a special kind of criminal treatment owing to its inescapable cultural basis (cultural defence). In any case, if customs such as FGM are to be eradicated a schema beyond current criminal law is needed; it would be necessary to adopt a global approach that places these customs and traditions within the context of violence and discrimination against women in different cultures. It is with respect to women that, religious and community prescriptions often result in forms of oppression and discrimination, and this is something that, far from diminishing, is actually being reinforced by the phenomenon of migration itself. Thus, the conditions that host societies make available to immigrants are crucial, and a greater equality of rights, with equal consideration and respect by the public authorities, carries with it greater possibilities of integration and the prevention of culturally motivated crimes. Without equality, dialogue is not possible, but the truth of the matter is that, the asymmetry between interlocutors is increasing with the same intensity as underdevelopment, unemployment and disparities in wealth.