From Forums to Action: End FGM/C and other harmful practices against women and girls in South Asia

Reinforced actions on ending FGM/C in Asia

For the past few years, Equality Now, along with partners from The Asia Network to End FGM/C, have intensified efforts to highlight the issue of women and girls undergoing FGM/C (Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting) in Asia, particularly in South Asia.

A collective regional call to action on ending FGM/C in Asia

In October 2024, Equality Now and members of the Asia Network to End FGM/C put together an advocacy brief that consisted of a collective Call to Action that highlighted some significant challenges around advocacy for ending FGM/C in Asia and recommended urgent steps to be taken by States in the region to address the issue as per their commitments under regional and international human rights instruments to ensure that all women and girls are free from all forms of harmful practices including FGM/C.

Voices from communities in South Asia on ending FGM/C

In November 2024, Equality Now and its partner, WeSpeakOut, hosted a webinar to discuss the issue of FGM/C in South Asia, learning from stories and lived experiences of women and girls from across South Asia and the diaspora to understand the impact of FGM/C on the lives and bodies of women and girls. Given the lack of data in the region on FGM/C and its implications for women and girls, the gathering of evidence through the mode of storytelling/sharing of experiences was seen as a powerful way to strengthen the voices within the movement to end FGM/C. The webinar emphasized the fact that FGM/C is practiced against women and girls across diverse communities in South Asia, deeply rooted in cultural and religious traditions.

Advocacy to end FGM/C in Asia under Beijing PfA commitments

In addition to supporting awareness campaigns and contributing to discussions on ending FGM/C in the region, Equality Now and its partners have participated in sessions of human rights-based regional mechanisms and processes to bring to the fore the issue of FGM/C as a widespread yet overlooked issue in the region – most recently at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing +30 review (19-21 November 2024) that took place at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand. The Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and its critical areas of concern contributed to advancing women’s and girls’ rights in Asia and worldwide. Since the BPfA was adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women, countries in the South Asia region have been meeting every five years to report on the progress achieved in the 12 critical areas of concern that require urgent attention and action across countries in the region to ensure that the rights of women and girls are upheld. 

Equality Now participated in the conference,  the Consultation with Civil Society (August – September 2024) led by the Beijing+30 Civil Society Steering Committee, and the Young Feminist Forum. In each of these spaces, Equality Now added to discussions and provided recommendations on ending all forms of harmful practices against women and girls, including child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM) and FGM/C.

Calling upon countries in Asia to bolster actions on ending harmful practices

In November 2024, Equality Now and its partners – The Asia Network to End FGM/C, The Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA), The Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW),  Wreetu, UNFPA Asia and the Pacific, UN Women Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF East Asia & Pacific and FP 2030 Asia and the Pacific – hosted a side event during the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing +30 review to discuss harmful practices, including the issue of CEFM and FGM/C in the region. The side event drew attention to how harmful practices against women and girls, including FGM/C, adversely affect the well-being of women and girls and have life-long and life-threatening consequences for their sexual and reproductive health and physical and mental health. Experts in the panel, such as Dr. Aleksandar Sasha Bodiroza, Deputy Regional Director, UNFPA Regional Office, reiterated that “bodily autonomy and the power to make one’s own decisions on sexual and reproductive health and rights are non-negotiable for gender equality and human rights.” Shreyasi Jha, Regional Gender and Adolescent Advisor, UNICEF, EAPRO, said, “As we approach the 30th anniversary of Beijing, we observe a rise in conservatism and deeply rooted social norms that contribute to harmful practices.”

On FGM/C, Equality Now and The Asia Network to End FGM/C highlighted the following key points during the side event:

• There is a dearth of official prevalence rates of the practice.
• There is a need for greater community engagement as FGM/C is deeply rooted in gender inequality and is used to control the sexuality of women and girls in almost all communities where it is practiced.
• The rise of the medicalization of FGM/C is a growing concern in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, India, and Sri Lanka, which has led to the legitimization and commercialization of the practice. The side event also urged States, such as India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and the Maldives, to implement the recommendations it has received in recent years through UN-level international human rights treaty bodies and other human rights mechanisms to take policy-level and legislative measures to prohibit the practice.

FGM/C in Asia highlighted in Beijing +30 review outcome documents

The Beijing +30 Ministerial conference concluded with a renewed commitment to intensify efforts and strengthen collaborations to address the remaining gaps in gender equality. Countries pledged to enhance their actions to uphold the rights of women and girls, ensuring that progress continues in line with the goals of the BPfA.The issue of FGM/C and other harmful practices, such as child marriage, was addressed in the following outcome documents from the Ministerial Conference and civil society spaces:

• Referring to harmful practices affecting women and girls in the region, the Beijing +30 Forging Gender-Just Futures: Asia-Pacific Civil Society Consultation Report states that “Women and girls in their diversities continue to be subjected to female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C), early marriage, and taboos around menstruation. These practices reinforce control over the sexuality of women and girls, entrenching social subjugation and authorizing other forms of violence. Government reporting on these indicators remains inadequate.” 
• In the Young Feminist Forum Declaration, young feminist leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region emphasized the urgent need to end harmful practices such as FGM/C and CEFM. Under the theme of Resist, Reclaim, Transform, the Declaration called for resisting structural inequalities and gender-based violence that violate the bodily autonomy and rights of women and girls in all their diversities across the world. The Declaration highlighted the importance of repealing discriminatory laws and implementing legal frameworks to address and eliminate these practices. It underscored that harmful practices like FGM/C and child marriage remain deeply rooted in systems of patriarchy and gender inequality and must be prioritized in both regional and global gender justice agendas.
• The Asia-Pacific Civil Society Declaration states that “women in all their diversities who face intersectional discrimination, including human rights defenders…pose a grave threat to previously agreed normative frameworks and commitments to gender equality and the fulfillment of women’s rights in the Asia Pacific region.” The declaration contains recommendations to address the above by taking steps to “Streamline and enforce laws on trafficking, child and forced marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM) and ensure they apply to all.”
• Finally, the Beijing +30 regional report titled Charting New Paths for Gender Equality and Empowerment: Asia-Pacific Regional Report on Beijing +30 review reiterates that “approximately 80 million women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region are still affected, predominantly in some countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia … Research on FGM in the region is limited and often focused on specific populations, with data collection hindered in countries where authorities have denied the existence of FGM. (pg 104)” and among its many recommendations on combatting harmful practices, it recommends States collect “data on the prevalence of female genital mutilation and cutting, which is nearly non-existent in the region. (pg 200)”

The task ahead on ending FGM/C

Echoing the recommendations put forward by Equality Now and partners, it is hoped that States in the region will take the following steps

1. Implement CSO recommendations made during the 7th Asian and Pacific Population Conference (APPC) in November 2023, where seven women’s rights organizations made joint recommendations to regional governments about introducing a zero-tolerance approach on FGM/C, urging States in Asia to introduce much-needed laws on FGM/C, provide national data on the extent and nature of the practice, and adequately fund efforts to tackle this regionally neglected problem.
2. Champion the issue of ending FGM/C by 2030, including achieving targets on ending harmful practices including CEFM and FGM/C in regional and sub-regional strategies and action plans to end violence against women and children and highlight FGM/C as a form of gender-based violence in regional and inter-governmental forums.
3. Raise awareness and change social norms by conducting awareness campaigns to challenge harmful gender stereotypes and norms. Engage men and boys as allies in promoting gender equality and respecting the rights of women and girls.
4. Monitor and Evaluate Progress by establishing mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the progress of initiatives aimed at ending FGM/C and use data and evidence to inform policies and programs.

By taking these steps, we can collectively work toward a future where the rights of women and girls are fully upheld and the global goal of ending FGM/C by 2030 is achieved.