The Construction of Gender and Sexuality in the Approach of Key International Law Actors to the Circumcision of Children

Sandland, Ralph

Abstract

This article analyses the approach of key international actors to the circumcision of children, seeking, first, to understand why the policy towards the circumcision or genital cutting of girls is so different from that towards boys. As part of this project, the article considers the literature on the situation in international law, concluding that the legal position is unclear and debatable. The article notes, however, that the policy difference is justified not by key actors by reference to international law but instead by reference to their theoretical understanding of how dynamics of gender and power infuse the genital cutting of girls. The article suggests that this approach is deficient because it can only compute inter-gender harm and not intra-gender harm, with the consequence that it fails to protect boy children from harms, which a better crafted theoretical model of gender and sexuality would capture.

Citation

Sandland, R. (2019). The Construction of Gender and Sexuality in the Approach of Key International Law Actors to the Circumcision of Children. Human Rights Law Review, 19(4), 617-647. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngz030

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 16, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Feb 6, 2020
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Deposit Date: Oct 14, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 1, 2022
• Journal: Human Rights Law Review
• Print ISSN: 1461-7781
• Electronic ISSN: 1744-1021
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 617-647
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngz030
• Keywords: Sociology and Political Science; Law
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4964561
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article-abstract/19/4/617/5727929
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Human Rights Law Review following peer review. The version of record Sandland, R. (2019) 'The construction of gender and sexuality in the approach of key international law actors to the circumcision of children', Human Rights Law Review, 19(4), 617-647 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngz030.