Violated rights : are female genital mutilations a still existing form of violence ?

Female genital mutilation is a brutal practice that violates women’s rights, by subjecting them to a real form of physical and psychological ‘torture’, as declined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a devastating health issue, based on the pretext of social and religious convictions, as well as deeply rooted cultural beliefs. It’s an issue that affects over 200 million women and girls, who have suffered from and who must live with the effects of this practice; in addition, every year about 3.6 million girls could be subjected to mutilation of the external genitalia. This mutilating practice to which women and girls are subjected against their will, is an insult to their dignity and health. Our research is based on a review of selected articles published from 2009 to 2019, through the consultation of the PubMed and Cochrane Library databases, with keywords linked with Boolean operator AND. Recently published data show that this practice is still being exerted, despite national and international laws recognize female genital mutilation as a crime worldwide. Female genital mutilations are more frequently practiced in Africa but, due to the migratory flows, this phenomenon has also spread to other Countries, such as Europe, America and Australia. The elimination of these mutilating practices can only take place through the sociocultural progress of the people who still downplay these practices and of the women involved. An appropriate level of education is essential in order to improve gender relations and to accelerate the social progress that could encourage to eradicate this inhuman mutilation.