June 2011 marked a hallmark in Iraq’s Kurdistan. In
a conservative society, even by Middle Eastern standards, the passage of legislation
to criminalize female genital mutilation is certainly a great deal. Besides
criminalizing and penalizing FGM, the statute also penalizes physical, sexual
and psychological assault committed within the family and creates conditions
for the protection of victims and mandates the establishment of specialised
courts.
Why was this welcome? Because Kurdistan was a thriving
hotbed of criminal conduct against women. A German NGO published a report in
2010, based on interviews with 1,700 women in the region. The report revealed
that 72.7% of women in the region’s two biggest provinces of Arbil and
Sulaimaniyah were victims of female genital mutilation, with the rate rising to
almost 100 per cent in some areas. The practice had a lot to do with
illiteracy. In this background, having legislation outlaw, criminalize and penalize
the practice is commendable. The first step is to recognize an issue and
actually speak about it, to admit the truth. By not recognizing the occurrence
of a crime, a society is both complicit and abetting of the commission of the
crime. The next step is to manifest action, for all truth is actionable.
And that is where the flaws have crept in. A law is
nothing without implementation. The aim of a legal instrument is not to remain
a paper tiger, but rather, an instrument that would engineer change in society.
But to confine a piece of legislation to verbal discourse, stultified in
stagnation in practice, would be a derisive mockery of the institution of
justice. The hurdles are plentiful – from the need for new courts to creation
of awareness at the grass-root level. To rise above the challenges would be
worth every effort, for the greater cause that is being pursued is the fact
that should be considered.
by Kirthi Gita Jayakumar
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