Baseline data from a planned RCT on attitudes to female genital cutting after migration: When are interventions justified? (2017)

This study is a Descriptive research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Wahlberg,A.,Johnsdotter,S.,Selling,K. E.,Källestål,C.,& Essén,B. FGM/C Type(s): All Health area of focus: N/A. Objective: To present the primary outcomes from a baseline study on attitudes towards female genital cutting (FGC) after migration. Study Population: Somali imigrantss living in Sweden Findings: A majority of Somali immigrants,including those newly arrived,opposed all forms of FGC with increased opposition over time after migration. The majority of proponents of FGC supported pricking. The support for anatomical change of girls and women’s genitals ranged from 0% to 2% among established and from 4% to 8% among newly arrived. Among those supporting no anatomical change,75%–83% among established and 53%–67% among newly arrived opposed all forms of FGC,with the remaining supporting pricking of the skin with no removal of tissue. Geographical coverage Region(s):Northern Europe Country(ies):Sweden Source

September 8, 2023

Becoming and Being a Women: Meanings and Values of Labial Elongation for Zambians in Cape Town (2016)

This study is a Descriptive research regarding IV FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Guillermo Martınez Perez,Mwenya Mubanga,Concepcion Tomas Aznar,and Brigitte Bagnol FGM/C Type(s): IV Health area of focus: None. Objective: To explore Zambian migrants’ perceptions and experiences towards LME,its meanings and values,and to explore its health risks and benefits Study Population: Zambian women and men aged above 18 years old,with knowledge of LME,and who had been living in South Africa for at least 1 year Findings: This study demonstrated that labia minora elongation (LME) was a genital modification that was highly valued by some Zambian migrants because it was perceived as a beneficial practice for their social and sexual wellbeing. Traditionally,LME was valued because it symbolized that a woman had received all instruction necessary to fit into the roles in marriage and in sexuality that local norms dictated. To become a ‘proper Zambian woman’,all young girls were expected to practice elongation and achieve malepe (pulled labia) so their male future male partners could appreciate the type of education they received during their upbringing. Traditionally,according to some Zambians,being born with female genitalia was not sufficient: young girls had to undergo a series of rituals,instructions and body modifications for them to gain the social and gendered status of ‘true women’. Geographical coverage Region(s):Not specified Country(ies):Not specified Source

Begin Community Dialogue on FGM/C by Discussing Cultural Justification (2004)

This study is a Exploratory research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): FRONTIERS collaborated with UNICEF FGM/C Type(s): All Health area of focus: None. Objective: To better understand the community’s perception and practice of FGM/C,determine approaches to encourage its abandonment, and identify how the health system could be more actively engaged in managing complications and discouraging the practice Study Population: community and religious leaders,married and unmarried men and women,health care providers,antenatal clients who had been cut,14 public and private clinics in the study region Findings: Community perception: Support for FGM/C is very strong in the Somali community. All participating women and girls had been cut,and most were infibulated,though providers reported a gradual decline in the severity of the cut among younger girls. Many community members believed that Islam requires FGM/C,but religious leaders varied. Family beliefs strongly affect the continuation of the practice. Mothers and grandmothers act as the principal decision makers regarding cutting,though fathers must also give their consent. Medical care: This is a sparsely populated region with few health centers. Access to health care for cut women,including pregnant women,is limited even in areas where infibulation is nearly universal. This impedes medical management of FGM/ C,especially outside urban areas. Health facilities in North Eastern Province are poorly prepared to furnish safe motherhood services and even less prepared to care for infibulated pregnant women. . All the facilities in Nairobi had sufficient personnel,training,and equipment to provide essential obstetric care; but none of the facilities in North Eastern Province could do so. Counseling for infibulated ANC clients is limited. Less than one-fifth had received birth-planning information related to their infibulation,including potential delivery problems or discussion of whether or not to re-infibulate after delivery. Geographical coverage Region(s):Eastern Africa Country(ies):Kenya Source

Behavioral determinants of non-intention to practice female genital cutting in Bamako,Mali (2009)

This study is a Explanatory research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Maiga B. & Kays,M FGM/C Type(s): All Health area of focus: None. Objective: To identify the behavioral determinants of the intention not to practice female genital cutting (FGC) among male and female caregivers of girls under the age of 15 in Bamako,Mali,to inform the development of a targeted communication campaign to stop FGC Study Population: 1,326 adult caregivers aged 15-49 (861 women and 465 men) who had at least one female child who was not yet excised Findings: Among women,47% did not intend to practice FGC their child; among men,44% did not intend. The behavioral determinants that were associated with non-intention for both men and women included social norms and spousal support. For men,threat (perceived susceptibility and severity of excision) was a determinant of non-intention,and for women,information availability,knowledge,threat,self-efficacy for discussing FGC,and attitudes and beliefs were determinants of non-intention. Both men and women cited social and religious customs as reasons for continuing FGC; hygiene reasons were also cited among women and premarital abstinence and marital fidelity were listed among men. The child’s paternal grandmother was perceived to be the key decision-maker regarding excision,followed by the child’s father. Geographical coverage Region(s):Western Africa Country(ies):Mali Source

Being different and vulnerable: Experiences of immigrant African women who have Been circumcised and sought maternity care in Sweden (2004)

This study is a Explanatory research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Berggren Vanja,Staffan Bergström,Anna-Karin Edberg FGM/C Type(s): All Health area of focus: None. Objective: To explore the encounters with the health care system in Sweden of women from Somalia,Eritrea,and Sudan who have been genitally cut Study Population: Women Findings: The women experienced being different and vulnerable,suffering from being abandoned and mutilated,and they felt exposed in the encounter with the Swedish health care personnel and tried to adapt to a new cultural context Geographical coverage Region(s):Northern Europe Country(ies):Sweden Source

Being Victims or Beneficiaries? Perspectives on Female Genital Cutting and Reinfibulation in Sudan (2006)

This study is a Descriptive research regarding III FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Berggren V,Musa Ahmed, Hernlund Y,Johansson E,Habbani B,Edberg A FGM/C Type(s): III Health area of focus: None. Objective: To explore Sudanese women’s and men’s perceptions and experiences of FGC with emphasis on reinfibulation (RI) after delivery. Study Population: Men and women Findings: The results showed that both genders blame each other for the continuation of the practices,and the comprehensive understanding of the perceptions and experiences was that both the women and the men in this study were victims of the consequences of FGC and reinfibulation (RI). The female narratives could be understood in the three categories: viewing oneself as being “normal” in having undergone FGC and reinfibulation ; being caught between different perspectives; and having limited influence on the practices of FGC and reinfibulation. The male narratives could be understood in the three categories: suffering from the consequences of FGC and reinfibulation,trying to counterbalance the negative sexual effects of FGC and striving in vain to change female traditions. The results indicated that the complexity of the persistence of FGC and reinfibulation went far beyond being explained by subconscious patriarchal and maternalistic actions,related to socially constructed concepts of normality,female identity,tradition and religion in a “silent” culture between men and women. Geographical coverage Region(s):Northern Africa Country(ies):Sudan Source

Belief systems enforcing female genital mutilation in Europe (2015)

This study is a Exploratory research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Yussif Nagumse Alhassan, Hazel Barrett, Katherine E Brown, Kayleigh Kwah  FGM/C Type(s): All Health area of focus: None. Objective: To explore the dynamic nature of belief systems and enforcement mechanisms that perpetuate FGM/C among three African migrant communities in the EU Study Population: Women,Men Findings: The research finds that belief systems supporting the practice of FGM among African migrants in the European diaspora are similar to those in their home countries. Beliefs structured around religion,sexuality,decency,marriage and socialisation are particularly significant in perpetuating FGM in the study migrant communities. These are enforced through sanctions and social expectations from the migrants’ home and host communities Geographical coverage Region(s):Southern Europe Country(ies):Italy,Portugal,Spain Source

Benign Vaginal Villi Noted at Time of Defibulation of Female Genital Cutting (2005)

This study is a Case report/study regarding III FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Morris Stephen N,Nour Nawal FGM/C Type(s): III Health area of focus: Benign Vaginal Villi and infibulation. Objective: To examine the relationship between Benign Vaginal Villi and infibulation and deinfibulation Study Population: FGM patient who undergone surgical revision of the scarred labia. Findings: Female genital cutting may lead to a vaginal environment that predisposes women to benign changes in the vaginal mucosa that resolve after the dosed (infibulated) labia are surgically revised Geographical coverage Region(s):North America Country(ies):United States Source

Betraying Their Daughters: Women’s Roles in Female Genital Mutilation (2009)

This study is a Descriptive research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Ashley Kim Stewart FGM/C Type(s): All Health area of focus: None. Objective: To understand why women perpetuate FGM,especially on their own children Study Population: NA Findings: Female genital mutilation has been identified in this report as being a symptom of the larger problem of the oppression and inequality of women,universally. When women are given alternatives to needing to be circumcised to marry,or alternatives to having to get their daughters married off in order for them to survive,then they take them,indicating that the elimination of FGM is something that they desire. Finally,a more holistic approach to the anti-genital mutilation movement was proposed,in order to attempt to offer a bigger impact than has been achieved thus far,in reducing the prevalence of FGM. Geographical coverage Region(s):Not specified Country(ies):Not specified Source

Between these poles of beauty and butchery: What is the dynamic between the ‘cosmetic versus cultural surgery’ discourse and efforts to end FGM in the UK? (2013)

This study is a Descriptive research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics: Author(s): Alice Edwards FGM/C Type(s): All Health area of focus: None. Objective: To understand the ‘cosmetic versus cultural surgery’ discourse and analyse if,and how,it relates to efforts to end FGM in the UK. Study Population: Key informants Findings: The cultural imperative of FGM cannot easily be separated from a woman’s ‘choice’ to modify the appearance of her genitals to conform to a ‘social norm’. The cultural norms that encourage,or coerce women into having FGCS (female genital cosmetic surgery) procedures may be less explicit but FGM and FGCS can be associated in terms of cementing societal expectations of a woman’s body,and the ‘Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women’ calls for all appropriate measures to be taken to modify social and cultural patterns which are based on stereotyped roles for men and women. Therefore,whether or not they are recognized as one and the same,FGM & FGCS both demand to receive attention if the UK is committed to achieving women’s rights and equality Geographical coverage Region(s):Northern Europe Country(ies):United Kingdom Source