Law Commons^™

A-R-C-G- Is Not The Solution For Domestic Violence Victims, Lizbeth Chow

Catholic University Law Review

For over fifteen years, U.S. immigration authorities and courts have grappled with the idea of domestic violence as a basis for asylum. But in 2014, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a decision indicating that victims of domestic violence may qualify for asylum. This Comment assesses the BIA’s decision and concludes that it is ultimately ineffective. This Comment further suggests that the only practical solution is for Congress to intervene. This Comment first provides a brief historical overview of asylum law to help elucidate the purpose of asylum law. It also provides an in-depth review of the elements needed …

Tradition And Culture In Africa: Practices That Facilitate Trafficking Of Women And Children, Norah Hashim Msuya

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Many states in Africa have adopted legislative, administrative and institutional measures to combat trafficking in human beings. These measures include, among other things, the formulation and implementation of both national and regional action plans by African states to provide for comprehensive and coordinated interventions. Many African countries have also enacted an anti-trafficking legislation at the country level. Despite these measures, African women and children have been trafficked annually worldwide for purposes of forced labor, sexual exploitation, and domestic servitude. Additionally, women and children are trafficked within their countries from rural to urban areas. Misconception and abuse of African tradition and …

Legal And Medical Ethical Entanglements Of Infant Male Circumcision And International Law, Paul Jerome Mclaughlin Jr.

Library Faculty Publications

The practice of infant male circumcision has been debated by legal and medical experts for years. The practice, once seen as a social norm, has come under opposition by children’s rights, legal, and medical organisations around the world. In order to meet the requirements of international treaty law and allow infant male children the fullest opportunity for self determination, infant male circumcision must be treated under the law and by medical practitioners with the same degree of opposition that female genital mutilation has received.

Female Genital Mutilation And Designer Vaginas In Britain: Crafting An Effective Legal And Policy Framework, Lisa R. Avalos

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain and Europe has grown in recent years as a result of international migration, and European institutions have grown increasingly concerned with eradicating the practice. According to the European Parliament, approximately 500,000 girls and women living in Europe have undergone FGM and are suffering with the lifelong consequences of the procedure, and more than 30,000 girls in Britain are thought to be at risk of future FGM. Although Britain strengthened its law against FGM in 2003, the number of girls at risk continues to grow, and there have been no convictions for …

Female Genital Mutilation And Designer Vaginas In Britain: Crafting An Effective Legal And Policy Framework, Lisa Avalos

Lisa Avalos

The prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain and Europe has grown in recent years as a result of international migration, and European institutions have grown increasingly concerned with eradicating the practice. According to the European Parliament, approximately 500,000 girls and women living in Europe have undergone FGM and are suffering with the lifelong consequences of the procedure, and more than 30,000 girls in Britain are thought to be at risk of future FGM. Although Britain strengthened its law against FGM in 2003, the number of girls at risk continues to grow, and there have been no convictions for …

Dissecting The Claims Of Legitimization For The Ritual Of Female Circumcision Or Female Genital Mutilation (Fgm), Muhammad Munir Dr

Dr. Muhammad Munir

This work analyses the various arguments put forward by the supporters of female genital mutilation (FGM) under Islamic law to determine whether this practice has its roots in Islam, whether it is a customary or cultural tradition, or whether it is a matter of personal preference in different parts of the Muslim world where the practice exists. The findings of this work are that the arguments given in support of FGM are either not reliable, are weak or, do not order Muslims to carry out this practice. Instead, this horrific practice is rooted in customary-cum-cultural tradition or, is a matter …

Circumcision Or Mutilation - Voluntary Or Forced Excision - Extricating The Ethical And Legal Issues In Female Genital Ritual, Obiajulu Nnamuchi

Journal of Law and Health

This Article consists of seven sections. Following the introduction, Part II reconstructs the debate as to whether Female Genital Ritual is a legitimate cultural practice or a human rights violation, and it sets forth the major arguments. Part III delves into, and debunks, the moral relativist argument regarding FGR. Part IV seeks to determine whether FGM is evil. A foray into the theory of evil, the section draws critical distinctions between FC and FGM and explains why the distinctions are of paramount moral importance. Part IV also concludes that FGM is evil, and thus, among the issues related to the …

Female Genital Mutilation And Female Genital Cutting, Hope Lewis

Hope Lewis

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC) refers to a range of harmful traditional practices performed on infants, girls, and women in certain ethnic groups. This article, published in The Encyclopedia of Human Rights (David Forsythe, et al, ed., Oxford University Press, 2009) discusses the practices in the context of international human rights law. FGM-FGC, violates a number of international human rights standards, including the right to bodily integrity, the right to life, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the rights of children, and the rights of women and girls to equality and non-discrimination. Nevertheless, …

Violence Against Women And The Special Rapporteur On Traditional Practices Affecting The Health Of Women And The Girl Child, Ana M. Nacvalovaite

Ana M Nacvalovaite

The Article portrays a facet of the conflict between the universalism of human rights, and comprehensive analysis of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women in the case of a woman of Malian origin sentenced to prison in France for Female Genital Mutilation. It synthesizes recognized issues in the discussion and extends them in several important directions that continue to be overlooked, such as ethno-cultural and religious diversity, conflict between the universalism of human rights, the clash between particular cultural practices concerning women and human rights norms concerning the individual, in specifically in the context of liberal democratic states. …

Matter Of A-T-: Opening The Door For Gender As A Particular Social Group In Asylum Applications, Kelleen O'Fallon

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Female Genital Mutilation And Female Genital Cutting, Hope Lewis

Hope Lewis

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC) refers to a range of harmful traditional practices performed on infants, girls, and women in certain ethnic groups. This article, published in The Encyclopedia of Human Rights (David Forsythe, et al, ed., Oxford University Press, 2009) discusses the practices in the context of international human rights law. FGM-FGC, violates a number of international human rights standards, including the right to bodily integrity, the right to life, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the rights of children, and the rights of women and girls to equality and non-discrimination. Nevertheless, …

Female Genital Mutilation: Exploring Strategies For Ending Ritualized Torture; Shaming, Blaming, And Utilizing The Convention Against Torture, Patricia A. Broussard

Journal Publications

The intent of this article is to graphically describe female genital mutilation (FGM); discuss the background of FGM and its health, psychological, and social implications; propose some workable solutions to ending FGM; and raise the level of awareness of the pain and suffering of women around the world. In part, this article will discuss invoking the Convention against Torture against those nations unwilling to end this horrific practice. There is also a caveat to this article: the author acknowledges that discussing solutions to the practice of FGM is not a simplistic and straight-forward endeavor. Solutions to ending FGM are as …

The Coalescence Of United States Immigration Law And International Criminal Law: An Exploration Of Elias Zacarias In The Context Of Female Genital Mutilation, George S. Yacoubian

ExpressO

In INS v. Elias Zacarias, the Supreme Court (SC) affirmed that nongovernmental actors (e.g., guerilla groups) can commit “persecution” as defined by § 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Human rights violations by any international actor, governmental or otherwise, can thus, according to Elias Zacarias, trigger asylum protection in the United States (US). In contrast, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which the US is a party, requires the victimizer to be a “public official or other person acting in an official capacity.”

The CAT thus imposes a state …

Cleaning Our Own House : "Exotic" And Familiar Human Rights Violations, Hope Lewis, Isabelle Gunning

Hope Lewis

Women's human rights activism in the United States tend to highlight human rights violations of women outside the U.S., or on women from other cultures who enter the U.S. as immigrants or asylum-seekers, while ignoring internal human rights abuses. This Article focuses on the events surrounding a recent U.S. gender asylum case involving Fauziya Kassindja, a young asylee from Togo, in an attempt to demonstrate the irony of American complacency about the status of the United States as a haven for the protection of human rights. Ms. Kassindja, and other immigrants and asylum-seekers, were subjected to degradation and abuse--in the …

Female Genital Mutilation: The Move Toward The Recognition Of Violence Against Women As A Basis For Asylum In The United States, Patricia A. Armstrong

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Female Genital Mutilation: United States Asylum Laws Are In Need Of Reform, Amy Stern

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Wcl Clinic Files Landmark Asylum Case, Sidney Lebowitz

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Women, Just Implementation Of Asylum Policy, And Our Commitment To Human Dignity And Freedom, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Between Irua And "Female Genital Mutilation" : Feminist Human Rights Discourse And The Cultural Divide, Hope Lewis

Hope Lewis

“Irua,” or female genital surgery (“FGS”), involves the most private aspects of individual female physical and cultural identity. Yet, the health risks caused by FGS raised concern in cultures in which FGS is not traditionally practiced. There has been extensive dialogue regarding the implications of FGS for cross-cultural feminist approaches to human rights. This Article examines the controversy over FGS terminology as it reflects more complex debates over FGS as a violation of international human rights. It further assesses the reasons offered to justify Western feminists’ participation in cross-cultural strides to address FGS through human rights law. In addition, the …