A/HRC/44/33 border female genital mutilation and strengthening the enforcement of legislation; allocating domestic financial resources to address the practice; investing in and promoting data collection, including regular reporting; and increasing engagement with civil society and community groups to end it. 11. The participants in the meeting acknowledged that the current pushback on women’s human rights could represent a threat to progress in ending female genital mutilation and recognized the need to consider it along with other challenges when discussing policies and framing narratives aimed at the elimination of the practice. Some experts reported that in some communities, in India for example, civil society organizations engaged in ending female genital mutilation had faced resistance from religious and political leaders. Another example given was the backlash arising from a proposal to enact a law prohibiting female genital mutilation in the Sudan, resulting in girls being subjected to the practice on a massive scale in anticipation of the adoption of that piece of legislation. Other challenges discussed included the tendency to frame female genital mutilation as a social, cultural or religious, rather than a human rights, issue to avoid linking it to gender-based violence. Arguments in favour of the medicalization of the practice might give the impression that it was medically sound or beneficial simply because health-care providers were involved. III. Enforcement of legislative measures and accountability, including across borders and in the context of population movements 12. A human rights-based approach to addressing female genital mutilation requires the recognition that it is a form of gender-based violence and thus there should be specific legal rules to ensure that it is prohibited. The practice of female genital mutilation should be considered a crime that must be investigated, prosecuted and punished. The participants in the expert meeting reached a consensus on the importance of enacting legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation as a critical element to signal that the practice was not acceptable and to ensure protection and remedies for women and girls. The practice could also constitute a criminal offence subject to criminal law. The process of developing such legislation should include meaningful consultations with the community to avoid misconceptions, ensure ownership and legitimacy, and ultimately enforceability. However, the experts recalled that the adoption of legislation alone was insufficient to address the practice effectively. In that regard, it was stressed that the Committee on the Rights of the Child and other human rights mechanisms had made it clear that any anti-female genital mutilation legislation should be part of a comprehensive approach, including measures aimed at addressing social norms and the cultural context. 2 13. In that context, experts identified some of the key elements of any potential legislation on female genital mutilation, which would facilitate its enforcement, such as: (a) the comprehensive nature of a law that would address both the prohibition and the criminalization of the practice (encompassing prevention, punishment and remedies); (b) a proper definition of the elements of the crime, including attempting to commit or aiding and abetting female genital mutilation and a clear definition of offenders; (c) clauses dealing with the issue of extraterritoriality; (d) no time limitation for reporting and simplified reporting procedures (for example through anonymous hotlines); (e) adequate sentencing and a coherent application of the law; (f) proper dissemination of the law for it to be known and implemented; (g) adequate training for judges and lawyers; (h) capacity-building of women and girls on how to seek remedies; (i) gender and child-sensitive prosecutions, including protection systems for victims and witnesses; (j) guidance to ensure that the application of an informal legal system was supervised by the formal legal system with the aim of condemning the practice. 14. During the meeting, it was acknowledged that the criminalization of female genital mutilation and the imposition of heavy sentences and fines were generating increasing discussion on whether such laws were achieving their intended objective of reducing the 2 4 See, for example, CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/8; CEDAW/C/GBR/CO/8; CRC/C/CMR/CO/3-5; CCPR/C/BFA/CO/1; and E/C.12/MLI/CO/1.