Female genital mutilation documented among a section of Kerala Muslims in new study

A new study has brought to light nine survivor accounts of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) among a small section of Kerala’s Muslim community, documenting how the practice continues through family traditions, community pressure, and silence around women’s bodies.Researchers found no indication that the procedure was performed on adolescent girls or adult women within this community. All adult respondents said it occurred during their infancy.The report, Understanding Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Community Perspectives and Pathways to Change in Kerala, published by advocacy group WeSpeakOut with support from human rights organisation Equality Now, is based on in-depth interviews with nine women in Thiruvananthapuram district.While the study does not attempt to estimate prevalence across Kerala, researchers say it establishes that FGM/C was sustained through community customs, patriarchal decision-making, secrecy, and misinformation. The report also renews demands for a law banning FGM/C.The report is significant because discussions around FGM in India have historically centred almost exclusively on the Dawoodi Bohra community. Researchers argue that little academic or political attention has been paid to its existence in other communities despite indications over the years that it is also practised among other sections.Its publication also comes at a crucial legal moment. After remaining pending for more than seven years, the Supreme Court is set to hear a batch of constitutional cases that includes a Public Interest Litigation seeking a nationwide ban on FGM. The case asks the court to declare the practice unconstitutional and direct the Union government to enact a specific anti-FGM law and ensure prosecution under existing criminal provisions.A hidden practice documented through survivor testimonyThe study draws from interviews with nine women aged between 33 and 65. Researchers used snowball sampling, relying on networks within the community to identify participants willing to speak. The report stresses that it is an exploratory qualitative study rather than a prevalence survey and therefore does not claim to represent the community as a whole. Instead, its objective was to establish whether FGM/C existed in Kerala. and better understand how it was practised.According to researcher Nevin Sulthan, the practice has remained hidden largely because “no one had asked the right questions”. “These nine women are proof that survivors are ready to speak and that listening to them is the first step toward change.”All nine respondents said they were aware of women or girls in their community undergoing the practice. Three knew they themselves had been subjected to it as infants, while another was unsure whether she had undergone it. Others only discovered the practice years later through conversations after marriage or childbirth.One respondent recalled asking around after learning about “sunnath”. “Then I asked many people about Sunnath; it has been done to all of them.”Researchers say this indicates that FGM/C may not be widespread within specific communities in Kerala, though the study was not designed to estimate prevalence.What is FGM?The World Health Organization defines FGM/C as the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons.International human rights bodies recognise it as a form of gender-based violence aimed at controlling female sexuality. It has been linked to lifelong physical and psychological consequences including infections, chronic pain, trauma, sexual dysfunction, complications during childbirth and, in severe cases, death.Worldwide, more than 230 million women and girls are estimated to have undergone FGM/C, while UNICEF estimates over 80 million survivors in Asia alone. However, only Indonesia and the Maldives publish national prevalence data in Asia.Known by different names in KeralaUnlike among Dawoodi Bohras, where the practice is commonly known as khafz or khatna, respondents in Kerala most frequently referred to it as “sunnath”, “pen sunnath” (female circumcision) or “markkam”.The report says the procedure is generally performed on infant girls within 40 days of birth, usually alongside the baby’s head-shaving ceremony.Respondents described it as the removal of “a small layer” of tissue or a “tiny prick” made with a blade or knife. Based on these descriptions, researchers believe the procedures likely correspond to WHO Type I or Type IV FGM/C, though the study did not medically verify this.The study found that FGM/C is closely woven into rituals surrounding childbirth.Respondents described the 40th-day ceremony after birth as the time when sunnath is usually performed. Women often discover it only years laterMany interviewees said they only learned they had undergone FGM years after it had happened.At least two respondents became aware only after marriage or after the birth of their daughters. One said she first heard about FGM from her relatives in her late twenties.Another respondent said: “If we have a health concern, we can talk about it and get treatment. But when it is something about our sexual desire, we cannot tell anyone; society will judge us.”Researchers say this silence around women’s sexuality contributes to the invisibility of FGM and prevents survivors from understanding or discussing what happened to them.Several women linked FGM/C to long-term effects on intimacy.One respondent said she did not experience noticeable physical problems as a child but later realised she had little sexual desire after marriage. “I hated sex... I complained that Sunnath was a betrayal to us.”Researchers note that while the study relies on personal testimonies rather than medical evaluation, the accounts consistently point to long-term impacts on sexual wellbeing and marital relationships.Mothers excluded from decisionsOne of the report’s strongest themes is the limited autonomy of women.Two mothers described discovering only after the fact that their infant daughters had undergone FGM/C.One respondent recalled seeing her infant daughter crying after the procedure before relatives explained that “a minor wound” had been made as part of a community ritual.Women also described decision-making structures in which fathers controlled family decisions before marriage, while husbands and mothers-in-law exercised authority afterwards.The report links women’s limited decision-making power to broader socioeconomic conditions.Many respondents had married between the ages of 17 and 20 and become mothers shortly afterwards. Several had little education, limited income, or depended financially on husbands or children. Researchers argue that financial vulnerability makes it harder for women to resist family or community pressure surrounding FGM/C.Most participants instead described it as an age-old custom performed because previous generations had always done it. Only two women said they had been told the procedure was compulsory for “becoming a Muslim”.Researchers say this suggests the practice functions more as an inherited social ritual than as a consciously understood religious obligation.Several women also believed younger generations were increasingly questioning it. “There will not be much resistance to ending this practice,” one respondent said.The study also documents examples of resistance.Some respondents described families refusing to subject daughters to FGM after moving to districts where the practice was uncommon. Others said they deliberately organised public 40-day ceremonies to prevent relatives from arranging the procedure in secret.RecommendationsThe report argues that India’s response must go beyond criminal law alone.Its recommendations include:Enacting legislation that explicitly bans FGM/CConducting state and national prevalence studiesSupporting community-led awareness programmesIntegrating FGM into sexuality educationProviding survivor-centred healthcare and psychological supportWorking with young people, religious leaders, healthcare workers and local governmentsDeveloping evidence-based educational resourcesEnsuring interventions focus on women’s bodily autonomy and human rights rather than only criminalisationThe authors argue that failure to collect data and introduce targeted legal and policy interventions places India at odds with its obligations under international treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).The report has come just as the Supreme Court prepares to revisit a constitutional challenge to FGM.The 2017 PIL filed by advocate Sunita Tiwari seeks to have FGM declared unconstitutional, arguing that it violates women’s rights to equality, dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy. WeSpeakOut later intervened to ensure survivors’ voices were represented before the court.The case has since been referred to a nine-judge Constitution Bench because it raises broader constitutional questions about the relationship between religious freedom and fundamental rights. It has been clubbed with cases concerning women’s entry into Sabarimala, Muslim women’s access to mosques and dargahs, and the rights of Parsi women married outside the community to enter fire temples.Central to the hearings will be whether FGM can be protected as an “essential religious practice” under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution or whether fundamental rights, particularly bodily autonomy, dignity, and equality, must prevail.During earlier hearings in 2018, a three-judge bench led by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed that FGM appeared to violate children’s privacy and bodily integrity and lacked any medical justification.Calls for India to recognise the scale of the problemIndia still has no law specifically prohibiting FGM/C. Successive governments have maintained that while existing provisions under criminal law and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act may apply, there is no official data establishing the prevalence of FGM/C.Masooma Ranalvi, founder of WeSpeakOut and an intervenor in the Supreme Court case, said the new Kerala study reinforces why that position is untenable.“India needs to introduce a law that explicitly prohibits FGM/C and protects women and girls from this harmful practice. We also urge the government to conduct state-level and national studies to reveal the true scale of FGM/C, as this information is essential for designing interventions and evaluating their effectiveness.”Divya Srinivasan of Equality Now said that ending the practice requires a holistic, survivor-centred approach. “It begins with an honest assessment of the practice and combines stronger legal protections with community engagement, public education, accessible support services, and sustained collaboration between survivors, government, civil society, healthcare providers, and community leaders.”Editor's Note: TNM has not met or spoken to the survivors. The story is solely based on the study.