ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council (23rd February – 31st March 2026)
Annual Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming
Speaker: Leon Langdon
Thank you Mr President.
Humanists International welcomes this Council’s continued focus on eliminating female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM represents one of the most violent acts of physical and psychological harm facing women and girls today, constituting a form of torture and a grave violation of the right to bodily autonomy.
While the 2025 resolution rightly called for the delinking of these regressive practices from religion, we remain deeply concerned that religious leaders continue to act as primary enablers of FGM. Too often, these leaders hide behind misused notions of “tradition” or “culture” to defend and perpetuate these practices.
This Council must be firm: the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) must never be instrumentalized or weaponized to justify the violation of the rights of women and girls and to justify FGM or other harmful traditional practices.
Digital technology offers several powerful opportunities to combat these practices. It can be used to counter mis and disinformation, and spread evidence-based resources challenging the lies used to justify FGM. Moreover, it is crucial that we empower girls with direct access to information on their rights and the health consequences of FGM.
However, the “digital divide” remains a major barrier with an estimated 885 million women globally still lacking access to mobile phones. Furthermore, we must address the reality of coercive control. In many patriarchal societies – often underpinned by conservative religious frameworks – women’s access to technology is overseen by men through surveillance and intimidation.
We urge the Council to ensure that victims and those at risk are insulated from a second level of harm when attempting to access digital tools for help. Technology must be harnessed to uphold universal human rights, not to create new avenues for surveillance and control.
Thank you
'Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation', Humanists International