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Cases: children with scars on the face or other parts of the body (criminal and family law).

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Cultural test

Legal Insights

Anthropological insights

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Proposed balancing act: unless there is opposition on the part of the child, the right to cultural identity is considered to prevail over the right to physical integrity for the following reasons: a) the aesthetic damage is mitigated by the fact that even the majority culture now knows of particularly conspicuous forms of signs on the body (tattoos and piercings also on the face); b) the physical damage is mitigated because the functionality of the body does not appear to be impaired in any case (the same reason why the legal system allows male circumcision). 

Bibliographic references

Legal Bibliography 

Korbin, J. E. (1980). "The Cultural Context of Child Abuse and Neglect." Child Abuse & Neglect, 4(1), 3-13.
Noticias Financieras. (2021, July 10). "Prosecutor denounces mother for starting daughter in candomblé."
Pegg, S. (2019). "Not so clear cut: the lawfulness of body modifications." Criminal Law Review, 7, 579-598.
Renteln, A. (2004). The Cultural Defense. Oxford University Press. (pp. 49-50, 68, 70, 203, 217, 239, nota 14).
Ruggiu, I. (2012). Il giudice antropologo. Costituzione e tecniche di composizione dei conflitti multiculturali. Franco Angeli, Milano. (pp. 76-77).
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Anthropological bibliography (recommended reading) 
 
Schildkrout, E. (2004). "Inscribing the body." Annual Review of Anthropology, 33, 319-344. 

This article reviews recent literature from anthropology and related disciplines concerning the cultural construction of the body. It is an interesting read that explains how anthropologists have focused on the observation of the body as a marker of identity in terms of gender, age and political status, and more recently on questions of modernity, authenticity and representation.
 
Anthropological bibliography (for more details)

Babatunde, O. P., & Oyeronke, A. E. (2010). "Scarification practice and scar complications among the Nigerian Yorubas." Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology, 76, 571-572.
Landauer, T. K. (1963). "Infantile stimulation and adult stature of human males." American Anthropologist, 66, 1007-1028.
Levine, S. J. (n.d.). "Noxious stimulation in infant and adult rats and consummatory behavior." Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 51, 230-238.
Ludvico, L. R., & Kurland, J. A. (1995). "Symbolic or not-so-symbolic wounds: the behavioral ecology of human scarification." Ethology and Sociobiology, 16, 155-172.
Garve, R., & Garve, M. (2016). "Infant oral mutilation in East Africa-therapeutic and ritual grounds." Tropical Medicine and International Health, 9, 1099-1105.
Garve, R., Garve, M., Türp, J. C., Fobil, J. N., & Meyer, C. G. (2017). "Scarification in sub-Saharan Africa: social skin, remedy, and medical import." Tropical Medicine and International Health, 22, 708-715.
Harris, G. G. (1989). "Concepts of individual, self, and person in description analysis." American Anthropologist, 91, 599-612.
Schildkrout, E. (2004). "Inscribing the body." Annual Review of Anthropology, 33, 319-344.
Turner, T. (1980). "The social skin." In Cherfas, J., Lewin, R. (Eds.), Not Work Alone: A Cross-Cultural View of Activities Superfluous to Survival. Temple Smith, London.
Van Gennep, A. (1909). Les Rites de Passage. E. Nourry, Paris.