Women’s right to dignity supersedes right to freedom of religion. Law cannot and should not question the idea of divine but law can and must regulate human action that hurts others, says Shashi Tharoor
A study on female genital mutilation prepared by We Speak Out, a survivor-led movement to end Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting (FGM/C), have revealed that 97% of the 83 female participants that took part in it said the process was extremely painful, with 33% stating that it affected their sex lives later in life.
The study — The Clitoral Hood a Contested Site: Khafd or Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in India — was conducted on 94 participants, of whom 11 were men. Eighty-one women in the sample said they had been subjected to khafd, which is how FGM/C is known in the Bohra community, where the practice is rampant. Unsurprisingly, 43% of the participants opposed the practice, while 37% supported it.
Zubeida, a 50-year-old practitioner, who had performed over 500 procedures, said there is religious sanction and honour attached to the practice. “In our community, it is said we earn a lot of sawaab (reward) by doing khatna (cutting) for girls,” she said.
The study, a first-of-its-kind assessment, was brought about by the absence of any such study.
In an affidavit, the Union ministry of Women and Child Development filed before the Supreme Court, it stated that: “At present there is no official data or study by the National Crime Records Bureau, etc., which supports the existence of FGM in India.”
During the year-long qualitative study, one-on-one interviews were conducted with 94 individuals (83 women and 11 men), and the study covered 12 sites in four Indian states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, which have a high concentration of Bohras. These include Ahmedabad, Baroda, Bhavnagar, Dahod, Godhra, Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Ratlam, Selana, Surat, and Udaipur. Kerala, where a few Sunni Muslim sects are known to practice FGM/C was added later.
Additionally, Bohra expats from Canada, UAE, and USA also participated in the study. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who was present at the unveiling of the report, said religion cannot take over women’s right.
“Women’s right to dignity supersedes right to freedom of religion. Law cannot and should not question the idea of divine but law can and must regulate human action that hurts others,” said Tharoor.
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