ABSTRACT
Intersectionality in relation to violence against women (VAW) is a tool for exploring the different ways in which discriminatory systems interact and the consequences of this interaction manifested in institutions and legislation. According to the Istanbul Convention, gender-based VAW is related to harm caused to a woman as a result of and caused by power relations that shape women’s subordinate status in society. VAW needs to be addressed in the context of inequality and discrimination, existing stereotypes, and gender roles in a particular society. Intersectional approaches claim that race, migration status, gender and class are not distinct and isolated realms of experience but come into existence in relation to one another and are mutually constructing. This chapter asks what articulations of distinct systems of power the Istanbul Convention expresses and analyses the consequences of such articulations on racialised women. To approach these questions, this chapter analyses the ways in which race, migration and other power structures intersect with gender in shaping structural, political, and representational aspects of female genital mutilation/cutting in the Istanbul Convention.
