An investigation into the cultural and legal factors influencing the differential prosecution rate for female genital mutilation in England and France

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Mururu, L, 2023. An investigation into the cultural and legal factors influencing the differential prosecution rate for female genital mutilation in England and France. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a problem that both England and France face. Both countries agree that FGM is a criminal offence and that it constitutes child abuse. Accordingly, each nation has taken its own distinct measures in law and policy against the practice. These approaches have produced significantly divergent outcomes, particularly in the prosecution rates of offenders, with France leading in that regard.

This thesis seeks to understand why criminal justice outcomes differ so significantly between the two nations, despite many parallels between the historical and contemporary contexts of these two Western European neighbours. In order to do this, it seeks to explore the overarching, systemic forces at play within both paradigms, what the author has termed “the Medium”. Furthermore, given that FGM within both France and England is a product of migrant communities having transported cultural practices into their new context, particular attention is paid to approaches to multiculturalism as a key aspect of the Medium for the purposes of this study. However, alongside this examination of the Medium, the study also explores the role of individual activism, and the agency of particular campaigners, termed “the Human Catalyst”. It addresses the complex interplay between the Medium and the Human Catalyst, as a means of understanding their combined influence on the divergent pictures in respect of prosecuting FGM.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Mururu, L.
Date:	March 2023
Rights:	The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Law School
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	06 Jul 2023 13:27
Last Modified:	06 Jul 2023 13:27
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/49329