Silent Screams
Female Genital Mutilation or Female Khatna or Female Circumcision is a rarely discussed issue, yet one of the most serious threats to the rights and well-being of girls and women. It is carried out in silence, justified by custom, and endured long after the act itself. According to estimates by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, at least 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, most of them as children. Behind this figure are lives marked by lifelong pain and voices that were never heard.
The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, observed on 6 February, serves as a reminder that this practice persists and demands urgent action. The physical consequences and long-term effects of FGM include excessive bleeding, infections, chronic pain, complications during childbirth, reproductive health issues, and psychological trauma, while reinforcing gender inequality by denying girls autonomy over their own bodies and normalising control disguised as cultural or religious practice — a damage that extends beyond the body.
What makes FGM especially difficult to eradicate is that it often survives within communities through silence rather than force. Families may feel trapped between protecting their daughters and conforming to social expectations. Fear of exclusion, stigma, or diminished marriage prospects keeps the cycle alive.
Ending FGM requires action rooted in empathy and understanding, beyond awareness and alongside stronger legal protections. While many countries have passed laws banning the practice, FGM is often carried out in private, making enforcement difficult, as girls are unlikely to come forward. In such environments, resistance requires courage and support through sustained sensitisation and community engagement, which are essential. Portugal has shown the impact of such efforts through campaigns like “Don’t Cut the Future,” a joint initiative by the Government and non-Governmental organizations. Although over 50 countries have prohibited the practice, there is still a long way to go.
In India, in 2018, a three-judge bench led by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra had famously remarked while hearing a PIL on a nationwide ban on FGM, that a woman’s “bodily integrity” is central to her identity and questioned why the practice was performed “to please her husband”. In response, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) stated that there was no official data on whether such practice existed, a remark that was dealt with through survivor-led stories and backlash from all corners of the country. The case was then referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench.
The new bench noted that the matter involved a “seminal issue” regarding whether the practice of khatna (female circumcision) is an essential religious practice protected under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution. Then again in November 2019, the matter was further referred to a larger seven-judge bench to examine FGM alongside other overlapping women’s rights issues. However, COVID-19 stalled the progress, and the Supreme Court looked into other matters. Activists were left frustrated with the delay and with no specific laws criminalising FGM, even with the introduction of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in 2024.
The matter felt forgotten until, in October last year, then CJI BR Gavai remarked that FGM is a grave human rights violation and a persistent barrier to gender equality, a much-needed ray of light for the activists. Later last year, a fresh PIL was filed arguing that FGM violates the POCSO Act and Fundamental Rights to Life under Article 21. In November 2025, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan, while agreeing to examine a plea to ban the practice of FGM, issued notices to the Centre and the Ministry of Law. A response is yet awaited from the Government.
On this International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, the message is clear: progress begins when we listen; change begins when we speak, and justice begins when we act. A society is judged by how it protects its most vulnerable and responds to even the faintest voices of injustice. FGM may not dominate public discourse, but it continues to exist, and this day is a moment to reflect on how far we have come-and how far we still must go-to end this inhumane practice.
The writer is a Director Sai Kiran Institute Of Vedic Sciences
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If we legalized minor forms of FGM, such as a pinprick or a nick of the clitoral good, and, further, required that these procedures be performed in a medical setting, would that be okay? That way, parents could observe their culture, religion (eg, Dawoodi Bohra Muslims), and “personal preference” on their girls, just as they do on their boys. The violation inflicted on boys is much greater than a mere prick or nick; but this proposal would take us further toward gender equality. If I’m allowed to cut my son in the name of culture, religion, or preference, why not my daughter? Or maybe instead we should recognize that no person, male or female, should have to suffer forced genital cutting? That boys, every bit as much as girls, have a right to their whole bodies? We could stop pretending that there is any moral distinction between mutilating female vs male genitals. Then we’d have a more coherent, ethically integrated message. Then parents might take us more seriously.
