Before the 1990s, the international community did not consider female genital mutilation a subject of international law. Violence against girls and women was widely viewed as a private act or domestic matter, and female genital mutilation was initially placed beyond the scope of international human rights law. This changed in the 1990s with the global women’s movement against female genital mutilation. Feminist activists ushered in a new era where international and regional frameworks recognized female genital mutilation as a human rights violation. The practice was placed within a broader gender justice agenda that emphasizes the responsibilities of governments to realize girls’ and women’s rights, including their right to be free from gender discrimination and violence.