FUNDAMENTAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS PROTECTION - The issue of Female Genital Mutilation

The dissertation analyzes the protection of the fundamental rights of women and specifically their protection regarding the issue of female genital mutilation. The investigation starts from a comparative analysis of the various tools protecting women's fundamental rights, exploring their weaknesses and bringing to light the serious forms of discrimination that persist despite the protection instruments implemented globally. Based on these premises, the research focuses on finding the most culturally comprehensive solution for the issue of female genital mutilation. The aim of this research is to highlight the persisting problems regarding the elimination of the various forms of discrimination against women and especially regarding the elimination of the practice, deriving from the lack of social and cultural understanding of the phenomenon and caused by an approach which considers the application of human rights univocal. Through a social and cultural analysis of the phenomenon, added to a broad legislative analysis, the strengths and shortcomings of the international community will be revealed. The purpose of this investigation is to find the mediation point between the practice of female genital mutilation, the cultural context in which it is practiced, and the protection of women, from a physical and legal point of view. The study demonstrates how the criminalization of the practice does not lead to completely positive results, underlining the need to integrate the communities concerned within the path through which the international community hopes to achieve the abandonment of the practice. Keywords: Female genital mutilation, human rights, equality, gender-based discrimination, international law