India's Chief Justice Acknowledges FGM Persists as PIL Seeks Complete Ban

Chief Justice of India B R Gavai acknowledged during proceedings that many girls continue to face Female Genital Mutilation, as a public interest litigation filed by human rights advocate Sunita Tiwari seeks a nationwide ban on the practice. An estimated 230 million girls and women worldwide have undergone FGM, with UNICEF data indicating over 4 million girls remain at risk each year.

FGM involves the partial or full removal of female genitalia for non-medical reasons. In India, studies estimate that 75 to 85 per cent of Dawoodi Bohra women aged 18 to 85 have undergone the procedure. The practice is also reported on a smaller scale among the Sulemani Bohras and a sub-sect of Sunnis in Kerala, though no comprehensive survey confirms its prevalence beyond the Bohra community. Sunita Tiwari's PIL contends that what is termed 'female circumcision' within the Dawoodi Bohra community constitutes FGM and violates women's constitutional rights to equality, privacy and personal liberty under Articles 14, 19 and 21.

The World Health Organization has long condemned FGM, noting it provides no health benefits and causes lifelong physical and psychological harm. Immediate consequences include severe pain, excessive bleeding, infection, shock and in some cases death. Long-term effects include urinary tract infections, chronic pain, sexual dysfunction and complications during childbirth. The most extreme form, infibulation, requires repeated surgeries for childbirth or intercourse, compounding trauma across a survivor's lifetime. Psychologically, FGM is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety disorders.

The UNFPA estimates COVID-19-related disruptions to programmes and school closures could result in an additional 2 million FGM cases over the next decade. The article argues that ending FGM requires a shift in collective consciousness that replaces patriarchal control with consent and dignity, and calls on policymakers, faith leaders, healthcare professionals and educators to speak publicly. The author states that no cultural or religious justification outweighs the harm caused and that the practice constitutes gender-based violence by any standard of international human rights law.

Key figure — 230 million girls and women worldwide have undergone some form of FGM, per UNICEF