Human Rights Approach to Female Genital Mutilation in Tanzania

Violence against women and girls emanating from Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) affects females in some parts of the world and crosses cultural and economic boundaries. Tanzania is among the African countries that practice female genital mutilation, despite several national and international interventions and treaties that advocate against this practice. These interventions aim to change communities' attitudes and norms that support violence against women and girls and promote non-violent and gender-equitable behaviours. Although the practice has decreased in Tanzania, it is stubbornly persistent and resistant in some parts of the country. As long as it is still being practised, even on a small scale, it must be put under the spotlight as it has human rights implications. Adopting feminist thoughts, this paper explores the human rights implications of FGM in Tanzania and indicates the different rights that are impacted by this practice. It further identifies some measures adopted by relevant stakeholders to effectively protect women against FGM. The study adopted secondary data to contextualise the human rights implications of female genital mutilation in Tanzania. The study concludes that female genital mutilation negatively impacts the rights and health of women, which makes this topic worthy of academic engagement.