Father wanted daughter circumcised

Concerning Ms. M.N.N vs Denmark for violations of articles 1, 2 (c), 2 (d) and 3 of CEDAW.

The author’s father left her mother when the latter was pregnant and the author lived with her mother in Natete until the age of 9 years. Since then the father kept finding the author’s whereabouts and tried to convince the author’s mother that the author should be circumcised. The author fled from place to place and then applied for asylum in Denmark. The Immigration Service rejected the authors asylum case, and the Refugee Board upheld that decision as they found that a law had been passed, in the author’s country of origin, prohibiting female genital mutilation. On the contrary, the author provided proof to the Board that a bill was being discussed, but had not yet been passed by Parliament.
The Committee noted that the author had not met her father since the age of 9 years and is unaware of any siblings, female relatives or any other women who have been circumcised. 

CEDAW decided that the communication was inadmissible because they considered that author has failed to sufficiently substantiate the claim that her removal from Denmark to Uganda would expose her to the real, personal and foreseeable risk of serious forms of gender-based violence.

22. July 2021

CEDAW 33/2011
  • Decision: 15. August 2013
  • Comm: Gender