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FGM PAPER FOR DISTRIBUTION.pdf (2.82 MB)

Why UK doctors should be troubled by female genital mutilation legislation

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 04:25 authored by Arianne ShahvisiArianne Shahvisi
A UK doctor was recently acquitted of charges of reinstating a variety of female genital mutilation after delivering a child. In this paper, I contend that this incident reflects a broader confusion concerning the ethico-legal status of non-therapeutic genital surgeries for children and adults, which are not derivable from tenets of medical ethics, but rather violate them. I argue that medical professionals have an obligation to announce and address this confusion in order to motivate legislative reform, since the inconsistency of the current law entrenches the underlying sexism and ethnocentrism upon which its sense depends. Without convincing arguments for (a) condoning male circumcision and female cosmetic genital surgery and for (b) treating adult women of colour as lacking the capacity to consent, the current legislation stands in need of urgent revision.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Clinical Ethics

ISSN

1477-7509

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

2

Volume

12

Page range

102-108

Department affiliated with

  • Clinical and Experimental Medicine Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-12-16

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-12-16

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-12-16

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