The relationship between the 1951 Refugee Convention and violence against women, most specifically female at risk of FGM

This thesis examines the purpose of the 1951 Refugee Convention in light of violence against women. It explores whether women at risk of FGM are protected under the Convention. It further investigates whether the addition of a gender specific ground in the Convention would provide adequate protection to women and girls at risk of FGM.

To have a comprehensive view of the practice, a socio-legal approach is adopted where the harmful effects of FGM are thoroughly explained from a medical and feminist perspective. Additionally, State responsibilities such as the duties of the United Kingdom (UK) are thoroughly examined from a feminist and legal perspective to provide a better picture of how gender-based claims are processed and assessed in the UK. In other words, the theoretical and socio-legal contribution of this research lies in showing the extent to which refugee women seeking asylum under the grounds of FGM in the UK are treated and the obligation the State (UK) has towards them, having signed and ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The responses obtained from semi-structured interviews are considered to investigate the 1951 Refugee Convention's purpose critically. Feminists, lawyers, NGOs, anti-FGM activists, and politicians were chosen as potential stakeholders for this research. This research stage was crucial as it highlighted an important issue, such as 'the culture of disbelief'.

Qualitative research is thus used to challenge the purpose of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Moreover, it explores whether the Refugee Convention protects women and girls at risk of FGM from a human rights lens and relates to women's rights from a feminist perspective. In other words, semi-structured interviews were carried out to find out the source of the problem as to why FGM is persistent in certain countries and whether the laws (national and international laws) that the UK has signed up for are fit for purpose to uphold women rights and protect asylum seekers women from FGM.

Feminists and human rights activists have been the backbone of empowering these women. They have raised awareness of the harmful practice of FGM and lobbied the Parliament to enact laws upholding women's rights in general. Their work is commendable as it has brought about substantial change in the whole system. Therefore, this ground-breaking research will contribute to advancing Refugee and Asylum law in the UK.