'Missed Opportunity': FGM Survivor On How US Court Failed Millions Like Her

This was a missed historic opportunity to set a strong precedent for women’s rights in the US, India, and beyond.

(Photo Courtesy: UNFPA/Georgina Goodwin)

A US federal judge, Bernard Friedman, recently dismissed charges against a Michigan-based doctor from India accused of female genital mutilation (FGM). This is believed to be the first case of its kind in the US since a law against FGM passed way back in1996.

Sadly, this was a missed historic opportunity to set a strong precedent for women’s rights in the US, India, and beyond.

Instead, the ruling may embolden people who practice it around the world. This is not okay.

As a procedure, FGM has no medical benefits, and only causes harm – physically, sexually and psychologically to young girls.

As a survivor I have been deeply impacted by the psychological trauma of FGM that even 40 years later, I feel the pain I experienced as a child.

The Case in Question

The case, filed in April 2017 in a federal court in Michigan, involved Dr Jumana Nagarwala and seven others who were charged in connection with the genital mutilation of nine girls.

The girls reportedly belonged to Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, and the incident allegedly took place between 2015 and 2017.

Investigation authorities alleged that mothers brought their girls to Nagarwala at a clinic in Detroit for the procedure when the children were around seven-years-old.

Nagarwala denied any crime was committed, and said she performed a religious custom on girls from her community. The investigation team worked painstakingly to gather evidence for the case which, was then filed in 2017.

Despite being illegal, at least 513,000 girls are at risk of FGM across US. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number has doubled since 1997, indicating a clear upward trend in the practice.

Within a year of its filing, a severe blow to the prosecution’s case was delivered.

Judge Bernard Friedman ruled that the federal law under which the case was filed, was unconstitutional. He said the US Congress did not have the power to enact a law to criminalise the practice and that it is for the states to regulate and legislate on the issue.

He also went on to dismiss the charge of FGM and as a result, the case of FGM was never heard on its merits.

A Blow to Women, Activists

The resultant rejection of the charge of FGM itself dealt a blow to activists and professionals working so hard to eliminate the practice in the US.

Despite this huge setback in 2018, the prosecution never gave up. They persisted and pursued the case for several other counts including a charge of conspiracy to transport minors for sexual activity and that of obstruction.

But each of these were slowly dismissed by Judge Friedman who rejected all charges and all counts in September of this year and dealt a harsh blow to the prosecutions’ valiant efforts by calling their work “vindictive”.

With this ruling, a landmark case got consigned to the dustbin. The judge’s utterances and orders come as a serious setback for hundreds of thousands of women like me who dared to stand up against the patriarchal and dangerous religio-cultural tradition of cutting girls' genitals to keep their sexual desires under control.

Further, ending FGM is one of United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and it is a setback in meeting these global milestones.

The Impact Of the Case

About 8000 miles away from Michigan, in Mumbai lies the seat of power of the Bohra community – a small Shia Ismaili sect. Adherents of this community still practice FGM.

When the news of the dismissal of the case of FGM performed by its members in the US was published in leading newspapers in India, sections of this community rejoiced and celebrated.

The case was also being closely followed by international human rights activists. Several women working against FGM in India like me had pinned their hopes on this trial as a positive verdict could have a direct impact on their work as it would empower them to question the practice within the community.

The case outcome was a big disappointment. In India, the government is in denial about the prevalence of FGM.

The case in the US, as it was from a member of the Bohra community, offered a chance for the harms of the practice to come out in the open. Definitive action against the alleged perpetrators of the practice could have supported the fledgling anti-FGM movement.

Instead, a country like the US which could have stood for a cause did not do so. Several women and girls who have mustered up the courage to speak have had to face rebuke, harassment, and excommunication from their closest and extended families in the Bohra community.

In this case, nine girls showed great bravery in coming forward and disclosing the harm done to the most intimate part of their bodies.

By labelling their efforts as “vindictive”, the judge has done a huge disservice to those professionals who worked tirelessly to ensure the perpetrators who harmed these young girls would be held accountable for their crimes.

FGM is an incredibly hard issue to talk about, which is perhaps why cases of this kind are so rare. But when a case does come up and it is thrown out so recklessly, it shows how hard it can be to use legal systems to do away with the inhuman and patriarchal socio-cultural practice.

What good is a law if it cannot take care of our girls? The glaring failures of the judiciary and Congress alike must be exposed.

Perhaps this is just the wake-up call that ending FGM will not happen unless strong consistent measures are taken by all concerned and the responsibility of the government will not end with passing laws.

They must do more.

(Masooma Ranalvi is a survivor of FGM and a founder of WeSpeakOut an organisation working to eliminate the practice in India. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)