Cultural relativism, mutilation of the clitoris and violence towards women

Abstract

The present article criticizes those viewpoints which explain and justify the violent
attitudes directed exclusively to women, considering it as part of the “Cultural traditions” of certain areas in Africa. In opposition to such practices, the article reflects the proposals
suggested by the Interafrican Forum for the Evaluation of the National Strategies for the fight
against the violence practiced on women. These proposals demand the prohibiton of sexual
mutilations and other degrading and humiliating practices to wich feminine bodies are subjected
on the basis of the tradition, and sometimes of the religions intolerance as well. By analyzing
the ritual of diverse societies, the excision is sited a more general context, that of the manipulation of the sexuality and the feminine body in order to make sure and also profitable
their levels of procreation.