The Socio-Legal Conundrum of Male Genital Mutilation or Cutting in Nigeria- A Reflection

Authors

  • Andrew Ejovwo Abuza University of Dar es Salaam

Abstract

The Nigerian Government has enacted laws and taken other
measures to promote and protect rights of Nigerian children. This
article reflects on the socio-legal conundrum of male genital
mutilation or cutting (MGM/C) in Nigeria. The research
methodology adopted is mainly doctrinal analysis of applicable
primary and secondary sources. The author is of the view that the
practice of MGM/C of a male child which inflicts agonising pains
on him is barbaric, criminal, amoral, undemocratic,
unconstitutional, unlawful and contrary to international human
rights ' norms or treaties. It is concluded that for the scourge of
MGM/C of a male child in the country to be effectively addressed,
the Nigerian Government must, among other recommendations,
work towards the ban of MGM/C of a male child, except for
medical indication in line with the approach in other countries,
including the United States of America (USA) and Iceland.

Keywords: Child, Male genital mutilation or cutting, Female
genital mutilation or cutting, Child ' s Rights

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Published

2022-10-08

Issue

Vol. 45 No. 1 (2018): Eastern Africa Law Review

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish in The Eastern Africa Law Review retain the copyright to their work and grant the University of Dar es Salaam a non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, and distribute the article.

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.