Radical Feminism on Reconceptualising the 'Designer Vagina' as Violence Against Women: An Argument Supporting the Criminalisation of Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery

Objectives and Expected Outcomes

This thesis will reconceptualise female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) as a ‘harm’, to the extent to which the law should recognise that consent should not be used as a defence.

This thesis's argument proposes amending parts of the Female Genital Mutilation 2003 Act and altering practicing guidelines of the General Medical Council (GMC) on cosmetic interventions and the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) on treating (vulnerable) women suffering from body image dissatisfaction. 

This thesis argues that the legislative medical exemptions should be restrictively interpreted, such that the law only permits FGCS for restorative and reconstructive purposes. This aims to bring more cases before the criminal courts; where surgeons would have the burden of proving that mutilating healthy female genitalia is medically necessary. It also provides an opportunity for the law to develop a clear mens rea and a definition of ‘cosmetic’ in order to distinguish it from medically necessary surgery.

This thesis is expected to conclude that a justified criminal law could appropriately cover FGCS by:

• - providing a definition for FGCS in Section 1 of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003;
• - refining the medical exemptions in Section 1 of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003; 
• - removing Section 1(5) of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003;
• - developing a mens rea
• - removing ‘distress caused by a perception of abnormality’ from the Explanatory Notes to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. 
• - banning the advertisement of FGCS by UK clinics. Access to information about FGCS is promoted by advertisements/social media which display unrealistic representations of genitalia that creates apprehensions about genitalia-self-image; and,
• - requiring medical illustrations in textbooks to represent accurate representations of external and internal genitalia.