Exploring the inalienable rights of children: a case study of FGM to highlight gaps in safeguarding children in the United States

This research set out to explore the gaps between legislation and front-line interventions in relation to the rights of the child through a case study of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the United States and the United Kingdom. Prosecutions for FGM have been rare and not successful and child abuse cases in the United States continue to rise in spite of a raft of legislation designed to prevent it. It was the intention of the research to use the findings on FGM to illuminate ways to address the gaps between legislation and child protection practices generally in the United States thereby helping both survivors of FGM and of child abuse and supporting routes to prevention to protect all children from abuse. The participants were drawn from a range of professionals involved in child safeguarding legislation and from those engaged in health interventions including midwives, physicians, psychologists, social workers and advocates some of whom are survivors of the practice of FGM. Extensive legislation and survivor literature were examined as well as narratives of trauma. Participants were invited individually and in small groups to speak about their practices, perspectives, processes and thoughts for the future. This approach was informed by narrative discourses in research and the data thematically analysed. The findings highlight differences between the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of legislation and approach, identify a range of challenges to be overcome systematically and present a set of possibilities which can contribute to reducing the gap between legislation and what happens in reality so that children’s rights are protected and not subservient to the rights of parental authority.