FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION AS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY: THE CROSSROADS OF ITS IN INTERNATIONAL, EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

Zbornik radova Raskršća međunarodnog krivičnog prava,  199-208 str.)

 

AUTOR(I) / AUTHOR(S): María Ángeles Cuadrado Ruiz

 

Download Full Pdf   

DOI:  10.46793/CrossrICL.199CR

SAŽETAK / ABSTRACT:

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a practice that involves the alteration or removal of a woman’s external genitalia for non-medical reasons. Internationally recognized as a human rights violation, it affects more than 230 million women and girls worldwide. It constitutes an extreme form of violence against women. FGM is classified as a crime against humanity, as defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute, allowing for a broader approach that exposes the system of domination that sustains this violence.

Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence expressly provides that FGM should be specifically regulated in the criminal laws of Member States, given the special nature of this crime and the need to ensure the protection of victims who suffer specific harm as a result.

In Spain, FGM is classified as a crime of serious injuries (Article 149 of the Penal Code), and its extraterritorial prosecution was permitted from 2005 to 2014. Currently, as a crime against humanity, it is also subject to universal justice.

Challenges in law enforcement are established, guidelines for the prevention and eradication of FGM, as well as for victim care.

KLJUČNE REČI / KEYWORDS:

Female genital mutilation, crime against humanity, enforcement, jurisdiction

PROJEKAT / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

LITERATURA / REFERENCES:

  • Abel Souto, M., “Delitos contra la comunidad internacional” in Fundamentos de derecho penal. Parte especial. Volumen II / María del Carmen Gómez Rivero (dir.), Adán Nieto Martín (aut.), Emilio Cortés Bechiarelli (aut.), Manuel Gómez Tomillo (aut.), Miguel Abel Souto (aut.), 2023,pp. 593-603.
  • Bassiouni, C.M., “Crimes against Humanity,” in InternationalCriminalLaw 3d ed. Leiden: Brill, 2013.
  • Cassese, A., International Criminal Law, 2d ed. ,Oxford: OUP, 2008.
  • Copelon, R., “Recognizing the Egregious in the Everyday: Domestic Violence as Torture,” ColumbiaHuman Rights Law Review 25, no. 1 (1993): 291–367.
  • Cuadrado Ruiz, M. Á.,“ Cultural diversity and crime” in RevistadeEstudosCriminais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, july/sept 2018, v. 17; n. 70; pp. 7-29.
  • Cuadrado Ruiz, M. Á., “Derechos Humanos, Violencia y Género” in Del Carpio Delgado/García Álvarez, Derecho Penal: La Espada y el Escudo de los Derechos Humanos, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2018, pp. 41-62.
  • Cuadrado Ruiz, M. Á., „Violence against women and Girls: Female genital mutilation“ in M Mrówezynski/ T. Knespka Prawo publiczne. Wobec aktualnych problemów spolecznych I gospodarezych, Bydgoszcz, Poland,, 2020, pp. 105-120. In Spanish “Violencia contra las mujeres y niñas en la mutilación genital femenina”, in Estudios Jurídico penales y Criminológicos en Homenaje al Prof. Lorenzo Morillas, Ed. Dy- kinson, Madrid, 2018, pp. 889 ff.
  • Cuadrado Ruiz, M. Á.,“Migrations, minors and cultural crimes”, en Sahni, S.P/ Bhadra , P. ( Eds.) Crime andCriminalLaw.PerspectivesonGlobalMigration, New Dheli, India 2020.Har_Anad Publication Pvt Ltd, pp.114-129.
  • International Criminal Court (ICC), Victims and Witnesses Unit, Policy Document, 2021
  • Mackie, G. „Ending Footbinding and Infibulation: A Convention Account,“ in American Sociological Review 61, no. 6 (1996), pp. 999-1017.
  • OHCHR, ReportonGoodPractices.
  • Proudman, C., “Examining Female Genital Mutilation Laws and Improving Policing Responses,” in PoLicing Public Protection , Springer,
  • Schabas, W.  A., LawandtheProtectionofWomen, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  • Shell-Duncan, B., & Hernlund, Y., Female„Circumcision“inAfrica:Culture,Controversy,andChange, 2000.
  • Silva Cuesta, A.,LamutilacióngenitalAspectosjurídico-penales. Granada, 2017.
  • UNICEF. FemaleGenitalMutilation/Cutting:AGlobalConcern. 2016.
  • UNODC, Handbook on Effective Prosecution Responses to Violenceagainst Women and Girls
  • WHO. FemaleGenitalMutilation, 2020. 
  • WHO, FemaleGenital Mutilation: Key Facts, February 2023.