A critical understanding of resistance to criminalization of Female genital mutilation in Kenya

Abstract

In the current century, many countries in the global South have responded to female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) by criminalization; this has relegated FGM to the realm of secrecy and rural areas. This chapter uses a conflux of sociological and criminological concepts—the product of which can be useful in understanding the shortfalls of the criminalization of cultural practices. Such an approach reveals that key variables have been excluded from previous strategies for preventing FGM. Therefore, there is a need to identify emerging issues and apply more appropriate approaches to the contextual factors responsible for the persistence of FGM/C in Kenya. Consequently, countries in the global South need to go beyond regulation and use multipronged strategies to effectively combat crimes born of tradition.