Female genital mutilation/cutting (“FGM/C”); Legal compliance; Implementation of Law
Abstract :
[en] A common policy response to female genital mutilation/cutting (“FGM/C”) is the enactment of criminal prohibitions.
The implementation of such prohibitions requires significant state capacity, which is often associated with the coercion. We examine compliance with anti-FGM/C law in Burkina Faso and Kenya, two countries which are thought to have markedly different state capacity and where the practice of FGM/C has been widespread.
Using a hard-case comparison and both qualitative and quantitative approaches, including a list experiment to elicit accurate responses regarding the current state of FGM/C practice, we find that Burkina Faso and Kenya have achieved comparatively similar compliance with their respective anti-FGM/C laws. We explain this surprising finding by pointing to the different implementation approaches taken by each state, one coercive and one facilitative, and the degree to which those approaches were well-matched to the attitudes of their respective populations. This paired comparison suggests that coercively weak states may still be able to secure compliance with their laws. It also suggests that academics and policymakers alike should consider the numerous other
capacities states possess beyond simple coercion.
Disciplines :
Law, criminology & political science: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Meroka-Mutua, Agnes; Law & African Women Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
Mwanga, Daniel; Population Council, Nairobi, Kenya
Ostermann, Susan L.; Global Affairs & Political Science, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
Wouango, Joséphine ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Département des sciences sociales
Language :
English
Title :
Coercion versus facilitation: Context and the implementation of anti-FGM/C law
Publication date :
December 2021
Journal title :
Law and Society Review
ISSN :
0023-9216
eISSN :
1540-5893
Publisher :
Blackwell, Oxford, United Kingdom
Volume :
55
Pages :
587–613.
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Name of the research project :
Evidence to end FGM/C: Research to Help Women and Girls Strive
28TooMany. 2018. Burkina Faso: The law and FGM. Report. London: 28TooMany.
Akbar, Nafisa, and Susan L. Ostermann. 2015. “Traditional, Modern, and Everything in between.” Asian Survey 55(5): 845–61.
An-Na'im, Abdullahi. 2002. Cultural Transformation and Human Rights in Africa. New York: Zed Books.
Assemblée Nationale. 1996. “Loi No. 043/96/ADP du 13 Novembre 1996 portant Code Pénal.” Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Boittin, Margaret L. 2013. “New Perspectives from the Oldest Profession.” Law & Society Review 47: 245–78.
Boyle, Elizabeth, and Sharon Preves. 2000. “National Politics as International Process.” Law & Society Review 34(3): 703–37.
Braithwaite, John, and T. Makkai. 1994. “Trust and Compliance.” Policing and Society 4(1): 1–12.
CNLPE (National Committee to Fight the practice of Excision). 2016. Évaluation de l'impact des activités de promotion de l'élimination de la pratique de l'excision de 1990 à 2015 au Burkina Faso, Final Report. Ouagadougou: Ministry of Family, National Solidarity and Women.
Dalton, Dan R., James C. Wimbush, and Catherine M. Daily. 1994. “Using the Unmatched Count Technique (UCT) to Estimate Base Rates for Sensitive Behavior.” Personnel Psychology 47(4): 817–28.
Ellickson, Robert. 1991. Order without Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Friedman, Lawrence M. 1975. The Legal System. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Gezelius, Stig, and Maria Hauck. 2011. “Toward a Theory of Compliance in State-Regulated Livelihoods.” Law & Society Review 45: 435–70.
Ghai, Yash. 2010. “Constitutionalism and the Challenge of Ethnic Diversity.” In Global Perspectives on the Rule of Law, edited by James J. Heckman, Robert L. Nelson, and Cabatingan Lee. New York: Routledge-Cavendish.
Gibbs, Jack P. 1968. “Crime, Punishment and Deterrence.” Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 48: 515–30.
Gibson, Mhairi A., Eshetu Gurmu, Beatriz Cobo, María M. Rueda, and Isabel M. Scott. 2018. “Indirect Questioning Method Reveals Hidden Support for Female Genital Cutting in South-Central Ethiopia.” PLOS ONE 13(5): e0193985. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193985
GRIGED. 2008. Pratique transfrontalière de l'excision: Etat des lieux et évaluation des actions dans les zones frontalières du Burkina Faso, de la Côte d'Ivoire, du Ghana, du Mali et du Niger.
Hendrix, Cullen S. 2010. “Measuring State Capacity: Theoretical and Empirical Implications for the Study of Civil Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research 47(3): 273–85.
Jensen, Gary F. 1969. ““Crime Doesn't Pay”: Correlates of a Shared Misunderstanding.” Social Problems 17(2): 189–201.
Jirovsky, Elena. 2010. “Views of Women and Men in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, on Three Forms of Female Genital Modification.” Reproductive Health Matters 18(35): 84–93.
Jirovsky, Elena. 2014. “Contemporary Meanings of Female Circumcision/Female Genital Mutilation (FC/FGM) in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.” PhD diss., University of Wien.
Kagan, Robert A. 2011. “Fear, Duty, and Regulatory Compliance.” In Explaining Compliance: Business Responses to Regulation, edited by Christine Parker and Vibeke Nielsen, 37–58. London: Edward Elgar.
Kagan, Robert A., and Jerome H. Skolnick. 1993. “Banning Smoking.” In Smoking Policy, edited by Robert L. Rabin and Stephen D. Sugarman, 69–94. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kagan, Robert A., Dorothy Thornton, and Neil A. Gunningham. 2003. “Explaining Corporate Environmental Performance.” Law & Society Review 37: 51–90.
Kagan, Robert A., Dorothy Thornton, and Neil A. Gunningham. 2005. “General Deterrence and Corporate Environmental Behavior.” Law & Policy 27: 262–88.
Mackie, G. 1996. “Ending Footbinding and Infibulation.” American Sociological Review 61: 999–1017.
May, Peter J. 2005. “Regulation and Compliance Motivations.” Public Administration Review 65: 31–44.
Mbote, Patricia 2013. “Fallacies of Equality and Inequality: Multiple Exclusions in Law and Legal Discources,” Inaugural Lecture, University of Nairobi School of Law, January 24, 2013.
Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Civil Promotion. 2018. “Code pénal.” Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Musembi, Celestine. 2013. “Pulling Apart?” In Women's Human Rights, edited by Anne Hellum and Henriette Sinding Aasen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Orfield, Gary, Franklin Monfort, and Rosemary George. 1987. School Segregation in the Early 1980s. Washington, DC: Joint Center for Political Studies.
Ostermann, Susan L. 2019. “Regulatory Pragmatism, Legal Knowledge, and Compliance with Law in Areas of State Weakness.” Law & Society Review 53(4): 1132–66.
Pager, Devah, Bruce Western, and Bart Bonikowski. 2009. “Discrimination in a Low Wage Labor Market.” American Sociological Review 74: 777–99.
Pendleton, Michael R. 2007. “The Social Basis of Illegal Logging and Forestry Law Enforcement in North America.” In Illegal Logging, edited by Luca Tacconi, 17–42. London: Earthscan.
Prothro, James R., and Donald W. Matthews. 1963. “Political Factors and Negro Voter Registration in the South.” American Political Science Review 57: 355–67.
Schmidt, Caroline A., and Constance L. McDermott. 2015. “Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.” Social & Legal Studies 24: 3–24.
Scholz, John T., and Neil Pinney. 1995. “Duty, Fear, and Tax Compliance: The Heuristic Basis of Citizenship Behavior.” American Journal of Political Science 39(2): 490–512.
Scott, James C. 1987. Weapons of the Weak. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
Shell-Duncan, Bettina, David Gathara, and Zhuzhi Moore. 2017. “Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Kenya.” In Evidence to End FGM/C: Research to Help Women Thrive. New York: Population Council.
Shell-Duncan, Bettina, Katherine Wander, Yiva Hernlund, and Amadou Moreau. 2013. “Legislating Change?” Law & Society Review 47(4): 903–835.
Shivji, Issa. 1995. “The Rule of Law and Ujamaa in the Ideological Formation of Tanzania.” Journal of Social & Legal Studies 4: 147–74.
SP/CNLPE. 2016. Evaluation de l'impact des activités de promotion de l'élimination de la pratique de l'excision de 1990 a 2015 au Burkina Faso, Ministère de la Femme, de la solidarité nationale et de la Famille.
Sumner, William Graham. 1907. Folkways. Boston: Ginn.
Tacconi, Luca. 2007. “Illegal Logging.” In Illegal Logging, edited by Luca Tacconi. London: Earthscan.
Tamale, Sylvia. 2006. “African Feminism.” Development 49: 38–41.
Tittle, Charles R. 1977. “Sanction Fear and the Maintenance of Social Order.” Social Forces 55(3): 579–96.
UNFPA. 2016. Étude frontalière sur les pratiques transfrontalières des Mutilations Génitales Féminines (MGF), Study Report, UNFPA Burkina Faso.
Villegas, Mauricio G. 2012. “Disobeying the Law: The Culture of Non-Compliance with Rules in Latin America.” Wisconsin International Law Journal 29: 263–87.
Weber, Max. 2009. “Politics as a Vocation.” In From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York: Routledge.
Winter, Søren, and Peter May. 2001. “Motivation for Compliance with Environmental Regulations.” Journal of Policy Analysis & Management 20: 675–98.