Tuesday 31 December 2013

Female Genital Mutilation and women /girls: Prisoners of Ritual



Various, often contradictory explanations exist for the tradition. In the main, rationales reflect prevalent mythology, ignorance of biological and medical facts, and religious obscurantism. Almost every reference links the custom to the family’s fear that their daughter won’t be “marriageable.” Unmutilated young girls are ostracized, labeled as “unclean” or branded as whores; children born to unexcised women are considered bastards in many societies, and unscarred genitals are associated with prostitution. Often unmutilated women are considered illegitimate; they cannot inherit money, cattle or land, nor do they fetch an adequate bride price.

 

One Somalian woman defended her granddaughter’s wish to be infibulated, saying it “takes away nothing that she needs. If she does not have this done, she will become a harlot.” The girl’s father, a college-educated businessman, expressed his uncertainty: “Yes, I know it is bad for the health of girls. But I don’t want my daughter to blame me later on because she could not find a husband.”

Different religious and social groupings see genital mutilation as the only way to protect women from unbridled sexual passion and promiscuity. A19th century British adventurer/ethnologist who spent many years studying the culture, language and sexuality of eastern Africa, wrote that “all consider sexual desire in woman to be ten times greater than in man. (They cut off the clitoris because, as Aristotle warns, that organ is the seat and spring of sexual desire.)” Unfortunately, a good portion of the research was destroyed by his devoted, but Roman Catholic, wife.
 
 

Overwhelmingly the practice is linked to virginity before marriage and fidelity afterward. Among almost every one of the peoples where the practice exists, polygamy is the norm. One argument for female excision is that no man can satisfy all of his wives, so it helps to have women who don’t desire sex. While the truth is that most men in these societies are too poor to afford more than one wife, the social reality of male dominance in every sphere of day-to-day existence is the backdrop to the ritual mutilation of women.

The origins of this grotesque practice are not known. While often found in Islamic countries, the procedure is not prescribed in the Koran. In 742 AD the prophet Mohammed was said to have proposed a reform of genital mutilation; his call to “reduce but not destroy” has been taken as an instruction to perform only Sunna, the norm today in Egypt. While Muslim fundamentalism enforces brutally medieval conditions on women, including confinement to the home and the stifling veil, only one-fifth of the world’s 600 million Muslims practice female genital mutilation.
 
 

It is clear that genital mutilations date back to ancient times. The Greek historian Herodotus noted in the fifth century BC that female circumcision was practiced by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Hittites and Ethiopians. The Sudanese refer to infibulation as “Pharaonic circumcision”; the murky origins of the practice, however, may be inferred from the fact that in Egypt it’s called “Sudanese circumcision.”

Ritual genital mutilation has been found to have existed at one time in various forms among different peoples on every continent. Quite independently of the tradition in sub-Saharan Africa, infibulation was performed by the Conibo people of Peru. The Australian aboriginals used to practice introcision, an enlargement of the vaginal opening. Anthropologists agree that female mutilation has only occurred in societies which also practice male circumcision, generally in cultures where the sexes are strongly differentiated in childhood. Thus some believe that the practice originated to highlight the difference between male and female at puberty. The Bambara in Mali, for example, believe that all people are born with both male and female characteristics; excision rids the girl of her “male element” while circumcision removes the “female element” from boys.
 

The ritual is the norm in an area south of the Sahara and north of the forest line; this corresponds generally with the area of Africa where, with no shortage of land, women and children (and slaves) were once needed to cultivate the fields and tend domestic animals and were easily absorbed into polygamous households. While the nature of the means of production does not determine how humans live in a social/sexual sense, it does set elastic limits. Thus it seems reasonable to assume that female genital mutilation has its roots in agricultural society which enabled the development of a social surplus and then private property. It is only when the determination of paternity for the purpose of inheritance becomes relevant that society puts a premium on virginity and marital fidelity on the part of women.

 

Female mutilations continue to occur in the rural areas which maintain a subsistence agrarian economy based on a tribal structure. What’s at stake are traditional property rights in societies where women are sold like cattle, based largely on their ability to reproduce. The practice is only somewhat less prevalent today in the cities. Over the centuries it has become an unquestioned, ingrained custom.

 In Prisoners of Ritual Lightfoot-Klein reflects on these woman-hating practices as merely “a fact of her life, just as tremendous hardship, poverty, scarce water and little food, back-breaking labor, overwhelming heat, dust storms, crippling disease, unalleviated pain, and early death are facts of her life.” Whatever the rationale for the mutilation of millions of young girls, whatever its origins centuries ago, female genital mutilation is today a burning symbol of the all-sided sexual, social and economic oppression of women.

 

Let’s take it as a challenge to stop this unnecessary practice.

 

Female Genital Mutilation: Inhuman Savagery


Three forms of mutilation are generally found in a triangular band stretching from Egypt south to Tanzania in the east and across to Senegal in the west. Although often referred to as “female circumcision,” there is no equation with the removal of the penile foreskin that is practiced among all males in Muslim and Jewish societies and in the U.S. Only the most modified version, Sunna (“tradition”), can correctly be called circumcision. It affects only a small proportion of women, largely in non-African countries. Sunna can entail a simple pinprick of the clitoris; more often the hood of the clitoris is removed.

Excision, the most common practice in Africa, entails the cutting of the clitoris, sometimes its removal, and slicing of some or all parts of the labia minora and majora.

 An inexperienced hand or poor eyesight can lead to puncturing of the urethra, the bladder, the anal sphincter and/or the vaginal walls. Heavy keloid scarring can impair walking; the development of dermoid cysts is not uncommon.
 
 

 A ritual frequently justified as a guarantor of fertility can lead to sterility.

Most women in the Horn of Africa are also infibulated. In addition to clitoridectomy, the reduced labia majora are sewn together, leaving a trivial opening. After the operation, the girl’s legs are bound together from hip to ankle for up to 40 days to permit the formation of scar tissue.
 
 

Urination and menstruation are excruciating ordeals: it can take up to 30 minutes to empty the bladder; the retention of urine and menstrual blood guarantees infection.

For infibulated women, sexual intercourse becomes a practically unbearable burden, especially on the wedding night. Consummation may take weeks, beginning with the husband having to open his wife’s infibulation with fingers or a knife or ceremonial sword. The woman must lie still with legs spread through repeated, bloody penetrations until a large enough opening becomes permanent. Many women see pregnancy as an escape from these painful and pleasureless sexual encounters, yet childbirth itself is traumatic.

Scar tissue is often ripped up as the baby pushes out. Those who have access to hospitals need both anterior and posterior episiotomies. Many infants die or suffer brain damage in the second phase of delivery because thick scarring prevents sufficient dilation of the cervix.

In many countries custom demands reinfibulation after each pregnancy to ensure women remain “tight as a virgin.”

Hanny Lightfoot-Klein, a social psychologist who spent six years studying female genital mutilation in Sudan, notes that women without reinfibulation fear their husbands will leave them.

Some claim to prefer it; in her 1989 book Prisoners of Ritual, she writes: “A tight fit makes the most of what is left after an extreme excision.”

 
The practice transcends all class, national and religious bounds.Most women in northern Sudan are infibulated, yet the practice has been anathema among the southern peoples. Among every religion on the continent—Coptic Christians, Muslims, animists, the “Black Jews” of Ethiopia, both Catholic and Protestant converts in Nigeria—there are peoples that persist in female mutilations. Moreover, it is practiced in Burkina Faso among tribes with both patriarchal and matriarchal cultures.

The fight against #FGM continues

Sunday 22 December 2013

Female Genital Mutilation: a curse on young girls



Despite decades of activists trying to curb the practice and dozens of laws banning it, the horrific procedure of cutting or removing babies' and girls' external genitalia continues.

According to an exhaustive new report from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), more than 125 million girls and women in 29 countries have undergone female genital mutilation.

The reasons are varied. It will stop girls from being promiscuous and preserve their virginity, proponents say. It's socially expected; it's tradition; it's religious.

But it's also incredibly dangerous and painful, and most of the girls and women who experience it want it to stop.

The practice occurs mostly in African and Middle Eastern countries. Women, and men too, say they subject their daughters to it because they will be socially ostracized if they don't.

It would be easy to blame parents, but that would be ignoring the complexities of the issue. The practice is tied to everything from tradition to patriarchy, and that's part of the reason attempts to stop it have been only marginally successful.

Way forward

Tougher laws

There are laws against female genital mutilation in most African nations, but the practice continues, because the laws don't address the social and cultural reasons for committing the act in the first place.

If individuals continue to see others cutting their daughters and continue to believe that others expect them to cut their own daughters, the law may not serve as a strong enough deterrent to stop the practice.

Conversely, among groups that have abandoned [female genital mutilation and cutting], legislation can serve as a tool to strengthen the legitimacy of their actions and as an argument for convincing others to do the same.

 Ending social ostracism

Many of the countries where cutting occurs are predominantly Muslim, but it would be wrong to say the religion is somehow at fault. There are Muslims around the world who abhors the practice, and it is often linked to other ethnic and social traditions unique to different regions. According to the UN, organizations that have encouraged people to abandon the practice "not as a criticism of local culture but as a better way to attain the core positive values that underlie tradition and religion, including 'doing no harm to others'" have had some luck in limiting the procedure.

Efforts to end [female genital mutilation] contribute to the larger issues of ending violence against children and women and confronting gender inequalities.

Let’s face it, the issue of FGM centres on gender imbalance.

Organizations working to end FGM need to let women know about specific imams, for example, who have disavowed the practice, so they don't see it as something absolutely required by their religion.

There is also need to talk about the health consequences especially mentally after the cutting which most cut women carry until they die. 

Unfortunately without awareness of the dangers of FGM "women feel very strongly that they have to cut, that it is a religious obligation and convincing women to abandon a practice they see as so intrinsic to womanhood in cultures that value girls as wives and mothers above all else is complicated.

 Education

Women in FGM practising communities’ are not given the same political or educational opportunities as men. They hold very little power, and even when they want to end the cycle of mutilation, they face the prospect of being cast out if they resist. Some women fear that if they do not have their girls cut, they will be "unsuitable" for marriage, which would doom them to a life of ostracism and poverty in many places.

Without education or means to support themselves, women are stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty and oppression.

Education could draw women into the labor market, which could weaken traditional family structures. Women might be seen as desirable partners for their ability to contribute to household income, which might reduce what some see as the need for cutting. Schools can also expose girls to people from different cultures and to mentors who might oppose the practice. While many girls have been cut by the time they reach school, they may be more likely to not continue the cycle with their own daughters.

Educating men and boys about the dangers of cutting is important, too. And the report found that many men, like women, want the practice to end but feel they have to subject their daughters to it for social reasons.

Ultimately, as many as 30 million girls face genital mutilation in the next decade, but there is some hope.

If, in the next decade, we work together to apply the wealth of evidence at our disposal, we will see major progress. That means a better life and more hopeful prospects for millions of girls and women, their families and entire communities.

Wishing you all a lovely Christmas.

 

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Female Genital Mutilation and Religion


Deeply rooted African traditions and customs


In most countries where FGM/C is prevalent, traditional practitioners perform the procedures, cutting the female genitalia and removing some flesh -- generally the clitoris and inner labia.

Laws alone are not enough to stop female circumcision as it is difficult to change customs that have been inherited without educating society about the dangers associated with this practice.

Combating this phenomenon cannot happen merely by yelling slogans and writing texts; we have to raise our voices loudly and clearly against female circumcision, and religious and tribal leaders have to work towards educating the public and raising awareness within local communities about the dangers of this practice.

We urge the religious leaders in particular to explain to people that infibulations has nothing to do with Islam.

Female Genital Mutilation not endorsed by religion


Incorrect religious beliefs and social traditions are used to justify the tradition. FGM is undesirable and neither a religious duty nor an obligation. Female circumcision is neither a favourable duty nor a sunnah and the prophet reprimanded women who performed this practice. There is no reference or text in the Holy Qur'an that refers to circumcision.

It has no societal value and actually contradicts the principles of Islamic sharia because it causes harm -- both physical and psychological -- to girls' health. For this reason, it has to be avoided in order to prevent harm and to follow the teachings of Islam that considers causing harm to humans in any shape and form as sinful."

Circumcision causes damage to women's health, such as urinary and genital infections and germs entering women's bodies.

In lots of cases, circumcision causes severe bleeding and during the first couple of days after the operation, girls find it difficult to urinate as a result of the severe pain and the narrowing of the urinary tract. Upon reaching puberty, menstrual cycles become extremely painful because girls suffer from serious infections, not to mention complications during childbirth, as circumcision causes problems during the birthing process that could lead to the mother's death.

A painful, scarring experience


Annabel from Mozambique’s experience,

"I can never forget that painful experience of having my genitals cut. I was nine years old when several women came to our house, some neighbours and some relatives."

"My mother ordered me to lie down on my back," she said. "Moments later, some of the women held me down on the ground while one put her hand tightly on my mouth to prevent me from screaming. Another woman holding a pair of scissors and a knife cut off parts of my genitals. I still remember the amount of pain I felt during this process and suffer from complications from the circumcision as I have severe pain and infections during menstruation,"

Despite the dangers, many mothers still insist on having their daughters circumcised and should therefore be stopped.

Female circumcision is a harmful tradition that our society has been plagued with and most Islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Gulf countries, do not know this tradition at all.  Why would the Muslims in these countries leave out an important ritual in Islam or the sunnah if female circumcision is considered such?

It is ridiculous to think that circumcision protects girls from moral deviance. Circumcision plays no role in preserving girls' chastity. Instead, a sound upbringing suffices to protect a girl.

Let’s all fight this barbaric practice.

 

Monday 9 December 2013

Female Genital Mutilation: Just don’t do it


 


Female Genital Mutilation adds no value to girls and women’s lives.

  • Control over women’s sexuality: Virginity is a pre-requisite for marriage and is equated to female honour in a lot of communities. FGM, in particular infibulations, is defended in this context as it is assumed to reduce a woman’s sexual desire and lessen temptations to have extramarital sex thereby preserving a girl’s virginity.
  • Hygiene: There is a belief that female genitalia are unsightly and dirty. In some FGM-practicing societies, unmutilated women are regarded as unclean and are not allowed to handle food and water.
  • Gender based factors: FGM is often deemed necessary in order for a girl to be considered a complete woman, and the practice marks the divergence of the sexes in terms of their future roles in life and marriage. The removal of the clitoris and labia — viewed by some as the “male parts” of a woman’s body — is thought to enhance the girl’s femininity, often synonymous with docility and obedience. It is possible that the trauma of mutilation may have this effect on a girl’s personality. If mutilation is part of an initiation rite, then it is accompanied by explicit teaching about the woman’s role in her society.
  • Cultural identity: In certain communities, where mutilation is carried out as part of the initiation into adulthood, FGM defines who belongs to the community. In such communities, a girl cannot be considered an adult in a FGM-practicing society unless she has undergone FGM.
  • Religion: FGM predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims, but it has acquired a religious dimension. Where it is practiced by Muslims, religion is frequently cited as a reason. Many of those who oppose mutilation deny that there is any link between the practice and religion, but Islamic leaders are not unanimous on the subject. Although predominant among Muslims, FGM also occurs among Christians, animists and Jews.

Say No to Female Genital Mutilation.

 

 

Thursday 5 December 2013

Female Genital Mutilation and where we are today


 

Despite the fact that FGM causes pain and suffering to millions of women and girls and can be life-threatening, it remains deeply entrenched in certain social value systems.

Changing this reality to bring about positive and protective social behaviour requires a holistic and integrated approach with harmonized programmes of action to achieve the common goal of Zero Tolerance to FGM.

Four areas of action could be to inform and train health professionals, to treat and refer women having been subjected to mutilations, and prevent possible mutilation of girls born in our country, especially through regular information to gynaecologists, paediatricians and school nurses.

In this endeavour, political will and action are indispensable. Governments have to be fully engaged and must allocate the necessary human and material resources to the complete elimination of FGM and other harmful traditional practices (HTPs).

Many States have passed legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation, but what about enforcement? We are still a long way from achieving effective implementation.

In addition we should not rule out the practitioners / excisors themselves.

They are women of a certain status and knowledge in their country. Women listen to them, they advise wives on their sexual relations with their husband, on household matters, on co-wives, etc. We cannot simply reject these practitioners and say that they are of no value or that they are murderers. We have to reason with them and explain to them that female genital mutilation inflicts pains and can even kill. We have to explain to them that they could divert their knowledge to something more constructive.

Modern and traditional media are also important actors and can play a major role in the fight against FGM.

 

Remember you can do your bit. Say no to the horrific practice that dehumanises women and children.

 

Monday 2 December 2013

Migration and Female Genital Mutilation


The problems of excision and other traditional practices which negatively affect migrant women and children are exacerbated due to the displacement of these populations.
 
FGM is condemned by most of the governments of the countries involved, which are both countries of origin and countries of destination.

FGM remains an on going practice in many countries of the world. It is a destructive practice and should be stopped. The role of the family is crucial in having these women adapt to the customs of their new country of residence. Mutilations drain women’s energy and the resources that they could use to learn the language of their new country, look for work and send their children to school.

FGM can be an obstacle to social integration for these migrant women. This is one of the reasons why fighting FGM should be a priority.

 Even for young girls born or raised in Europe – where prevalence is fairly high – excision is considered as a right of passage and not subjecting oneself to this procedure may destroy interfamilial links. For 30 years a number of actions and strategies have been undertaken in Europe to decrease the prevalence of FGM.

In order to protect young girls the work that has been done by civil society must be acknowledged and authorities must be involved. Many countries have begun to implement measures: France, Italy and Portugal in particular. It is therefore important to draw lessons from the actions undertaken in European countries.

What can we do and what are the actions and the measures that work?

Campaign to bring together all stakeholders, and for this we need to build and strengthen women’s capacities and empower migrant women so that they are in a better position to take charge of their own health and that of their families, so that they are able to express their needs and take part in important decisions related to their children.

This also entails literacy campaigns, sending children to school, mastering the language, having access to the economy, so as to have necessary financial resources. All of these social determinants need to be taken into account to fight this problem, so that migrant women are in a better position to shoulder their responsibilities and combat the problem. Only if women become empowered and autonomous will the message be heard and have a positive effect.

Women who come from migrant communities need to know where to turn if they need assistance for themselves and their families in terms of health care and other forms of assistance. All of this needs to be part of an integration policy, not only in the country of destination but also in the countries of origin.

A lot of work has been done in the countries of origin of migrant women with a view to informing and empowering them so that they can take charge of the problem themselves.

Remember it is an uphill battle, because it has to do with the most intimate part of the human being, and it is a battle where the victims do not necessarily want to be advised or helped by people from the outside. So tread with caution.

There are communities that systematically reject external help because they feel that they have been wounded and simply need to survive.

We need to take into account all of these cultural and traditional elements that justify the practice of FGM.

We need to relay the actions taken by parliaments, governments and by religious leaders in the countries of origin because the migrant communities are often not aware of what is being done in their own country against FGM. If new laws are passed it is important to inform them of this.

 
Lets all fight FGM together and see the end to it.

Sunday 1 December 2013

Developing a comprehensive approach to FGM: What can you do?

A lot has been said about FGM but what can you do to help stop this horrific practise?

 

  • FGM strikes at the heart of our societies and involves multiple issues; only through a multidisciplinary approach can efficient progress be achieved in abandoning FGM.

 

  • Parliaments should work in synergy with civil society, traditional chiefs and religious leaders, women’s and youth movements and governments to ensure that their actions are complementary and coordinated.

 

  • Strategies for the abandonment of FGM must be developed in a framework of the promotion of human rights, the right to education, health, development and poverty reduction.

 

Changing mentalities

 

  • Parliaments should also work on awareness and changing mentalities. Because of the social status incumbent upon their office, members of parliament are in a position to address sensitive issues and have an impact on public opinion and mentalities. Awareness activities conducted jointly with community leaders, religious leaders and women’s and youth groups at the community level have a decisive impact.

 

  • Cooperation with the media is vital; modern and traditional media need to be involved in all strategies aimed at abandoning the practice, through awareness, communication and information campaigns.

 

  • It is crucial to ensure that the message sent out regarding abandonment of FGM is positive, non-judgemental and consistent. All the actors involved must speak with the same voice.

 

  • Education plays a fundamental role in the prevention of FGM. With this in mind, it is necessary to review school curricula at all levels, to sensitize teachers, and to keep girls in school up until they reach higher education in order to delay marriage and possibly avoid the genital mutilation that often precedes it.

 

  • Any action aimed at ensuring the abandonment of FGM must be coupled with initiatives for community development, in particular through the improvement of the living conditions of women and children, as part of the fight against poverty.

 

  • The drafting of national action plans for the abandonment of FGM should make it possible to identify the different roles and responsibilities of the actors involved, to ensure proper coordination and the complementarities of the efforts undertaken. The adoption of clear objectives with specific time frames also facilitates synergy among the various actors. So parliament has a big role to play.

 
It is possible to end female genital mutilation in this generation if we all play our part. No child or woman should go through this horrific practice.
Stop FGM, it is violence and abuse against women and children.

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Abandoning FGM: Key Elements for change


 

Concrete field experience, together with insights from academic theory and lessons learned from the experience of foot binding in China suggest that six key elements can contribute to transforming the social convention of cutting girls and encourage the rapid and mass abandonment of the practice.

 

·         A non-coercive and non-judgmental approach whose primary focus is the fulfilment of human rights and the empowerment of girls and women is needed.

 

Communities tend to raise the issue of FGM when they increase their awareness and understanding of human rights and make progress toward the realisation of those they consider to be of immediate concern, such as health and education.

 

Despite taboos regarding the discussion of FGM, the issue emerges because group members are aware that the practice causes harm. Community discussion and debate contribute to a new understanding that girls would be better off if everyone abandoned the practice.

 

·         Awareness on the part of a community of the harm caused by the practice is needed. Through non-judgmental, non-directive public discussion and reflection, the costs of FGM tend to become more evident as women – and men – share their experiences and those of their daughters.

 

The decision to abandon the practice as a collective choice of a group that intra-marries or is closely connected in other ways. FGM is a community practice and, consequently, is most effectively given up by the community acting together rather than by individuals acting on their own. Successful

transformation of the social convention ultimately rests with the ability of members of the group to organize and take collective action.

 

·         An explicit, public affirmation on the part of communities of their collective commitment to abandon FGM. It is necessary, but not sufficient, that most members of a community favour abandonment.

A successful shift requires that they manifest – as a community – the will to abandon. This may take various forms, including a joint public declaration in a large public gathering or an authoritative written statement of the collective commitment to abandon.

 

·         A process of organized diffusion to ensure that the decision to abandon FGM spreads rapidly from one community to another and is sustained is important.

 

Communities must engage neighbouring towns so that the decision to abandon FGM can be spread and sustained. It is particularly important to engage those communities that exercise a strong influence. When the decision to abandon becomes sufficiently diffused, the social dynamics that originally perpetuated the practice can serve to accelerate and sustain its abandonment.

Where previously there was social pressure to perform FGM, there will be social pressure to abandon the practice. When the process of abandonment reaches this point, the social convention of not cutting becomes self-enforcing and abandonment continues swiftly and spontaneously.

 

·         An environment that enables and supports change.

Success in promoting the abandonment of FGM also depends on the commitment of government, at all levels, to introduce appropriate social measures and legislation, complemented by effective advocacy and awareness efforts. Civil society forms an integral part of this enabling environment. In particular, the media have a key role in facilitating the diffusion process.

 

Together we can end female genital mutilation for good.

Saturday 23 November 2013

Diversity awareness when redressing victims of FGM

Victims of FGM always suffer physically, mentally and psychologically and lack of support in some cases has left many in pain and distress of many kinds. There are things to consider when offering support.

Remember,

Women and children who have had FGM may need access to a variety of services such as:

  • counselling and psychiatric support through statutory or voluntary services because of psychological trauma, relationship or psycho-sexual difficulties
  • infertility
  • uro-gynaecological services including surgical reversal of infibulation (known as deinfibulation being done in London)
  • an easily accessible interpreter service with workers who appreciate the problems facing children and women who have been cut, and also those of refugees and asylum seekers. It is very important that women do not find themselves relying on family members for interpretation when dealing with health care professionals.
  •  Children should never be used for interpreting purposes.
  • Communication with women, even if interpreters are not required, needs to be clear, using straightforward language and explanations.
  • Pictures or diagrams may help. It is important to listen without interruption, avoid rushing or providing too much information at once, and check that women have understood.

All services should be open with flexible access and collaboration between agencies.

Women may be very unwilling to come forward for help, or may be unaware of what is available, or not know how to ask. They may find it difficult to raise the topic with health care staff because they know that practitioners may have limited awareness of FGM, and may respond in a negative manner. For this reason, nurses and midwives who come into contact with them should to be alert to this, and take opportunities to enquire sensitively and offer support and referral to specialist clinics. Generally, women are likely to prefer female carers to male.

It is important for women and girls to have access to specialist services. Currently there are few specialist clinics available countrywide. This is why it is important for nurses, particularly those already working with these women and children, their families and communities, to have the appropriate specialist learning and skills to work effectively with this client group.

It is important to note that health care professionals may not need to provide all services. Support groups and organisations have a very important role to play.

 

Thursday 21 November 2013

Female Genital Mutilation and Health Care Professionals


 

Things to think about:


Acting in discriminatory ways or from racist motivations are other reasons why it may be difficult to deal with girls and young women who need safeguarding because of FGM.

 

Children’s needs for protection are the same whatever their cultural background, saying ‘a child is a child regardless of COLOUR.

 

Raising awareness about the socio-cultural, ethico-legal, sexual health and clinical care implications involved in FGM is essential.

 

Education and training needs to be provided for all health and social care professionals who may work with affected women and girls and with their families.

It is also important to consider the issues of ethnicity, custom, culture and religion in a sensitive manner.

 

Professionals should explore ways of resolving problems about the continuation of this practice in ways that involve clients with their full participation.

 

Education of male partners and community leaders might reduce the number of children, young and older women who suffer in the future.

 

Practices like FGM have been ingrained for many generations, and will

require extensive cultural education to address the issues thoroughly and effectively.

 

FGM should be a part of sexual health education in all preregistration

and post-registration programmes for nurses, midwives and health visitors. It is equally essential to raise awareness and the seriousness of the issues among teachers, school nurses and social service staff.

 

Training around FGM should include the following:

 

  • overview of FGM (what it is, when and where it is performed)
  • socio-cultural context
  • facts and figures
  • UK FGM and child protection law
  • FGM complications
  • pregnancy, labour and postnatal periods
  • safeguarding children – principles to follow when FGM is suspected or been performed
  • roles of different professionals.

 

Remember:

 

Women and girls who have been cut need particular and sensitive support and facilities to help them deal with the physical, psychological and social consequences.

 

Change can only take place to keep women and girls safe if practising communities are involved at all stages of child protection and service provision.

All professionals, the practising communities and the public have a role to play to make a difference.

 

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Female Genital Mutilation: Origins of beliefs, values and attitudes


Beliefs, values and attitudes are formed and developed under a multitude of influences – our parents, families, society, culture, traditions, religion, peer groups, the media (TV, music, videos, magazines, advertisements), school, climate, environment, technology, politics, the economy, personal experiences, friends, and personal needs. They are also influenced by our age and gender.

The development of a value system

A value system is a hierarchical set of beliefs and principles which influence an individual or group’s outlook on life (attitude) and guide their behaviour. A value system is not rigid, but will be subject to change over time, and in the light of new insights, information and experiences.

Beliefs, values and attitudes and the practice of FGM

The practice of FGM is supported by traditional beliefs, values and attitudes. In some communities it is valued as a rite of passage into womanhood (For example in Kenya and Sierra Leone).

Others value it as a means of preserving a girl’s virginity until marriage, (For example in Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Somalia). In each community where FGM is practised, it is an important part of the culturally defined gender identity, which explains why many mothers and grandmothers defend the practice: they consider it a fundamental part of their own womanhood and believe it is essential to their daughters’ acceptance into their society. In most of these communities FGM is a pre-requisite to marriage, and marriage is vital to a woman’s social and economic survival.

Behavioural scientists have demonstrated that in changing any behaviour, an individual goes through a series of steps .These are as follows:

1. Awareness.

2. Seeking information.

3. Processing the information and “personalizing” it –i.e. accepting its value for oneself.

4. Examining options.

5. Reaching a decision.

6. Trying out the behaviour.

7. Receiving positive feedback or “reinforcement”.

8. Sharing the experience with others.

 

According to this model, someone making the decision to reject FGM – whether that person is a mother, grandparent, father, husband, aunt, teacher, older sister, or a girl herself – will go through a process that starts with realising that rejection of FGM is an option. This will be followed by the person finding such a choice desirable; reaching the decision to reject FGM;

figuring out how to put this decision into practice; doing so and seeing what happens; and then receiving positive feedback from others that encourages the person to continue with their stand against FGM. The final stage is when the person feels confident enough in their decision to “go public” with it – i.e. share their reasoning and experience with others, thus encouraging them to follow the example. This is called the “multiplier effect”. At every step, and whoever the person is, there is the risk of failure, and individuals must struggle with the personal and wider repercussions of the choice they have made.


Community involvement

Community involvement means working with the people, rather than for them, to answer their needs and find solutions to their problems. It is a process whereby the community is encouraged to take responsibility for its problems and make its own decisions as to how to solve them, using its own resources and mechanisms.

Involving communities in the fight against FGM means working together towards changing their beliefs, values and attitudes regarding the practice. The objective is to allow people to reach their own conclusion that change is necessary and thus have a sense of ownership of this decision.

Strategies for involving individuals, families and communities in FGM prevention

The primary objective of community involvement strategies is to encourage ownership of any decision reached by an individual, a family, a group, or the entire community, to change behaviour regarding FGM.

Health professionals, Teachers and social workers are respected and listened to by individuals, families and communities and have a major role to play in promoting education against FGM. Some are already members of non governmental groups working to bring about change in their communities on the practice.

 
The first requirement is to learn about the practice and to be clear about the reasons given by people for practising it.

It should be remembered that FGM is not just a health issue but a gender and human right issue, therefore the solution to the problem lies not just in giving information on health consequences of FGM but to advising on the various dimensions of the problem. The ‘front-liners’ role is to contribute to the change process.

They can assist individuals, families and communities in the process of changing their behaviour and practice as regards FGM by:


Integrating education and counselling against FGM into day to day nursing and midwifery practice

Identifying influential leaders and other key individuals and groups within the community with whom they can collaborate and could be used as change agents

visiting individual people or groups in the community, as appropriate

establishing small focus groups for discussions. These discussions should be interactive and participatory, allowing the people themselves to do most of the talking

assisting the people to think through the practice of FGM and its effects on health and on human rights

identifying resources within the community that could be used in the prevention programme

● suggesting strategies for changing practice, e.g. a culturally acceptable alternative ceremony to mark the rite of passage (Kenya) and teaching women problem solving skills (Tostan, Senegal)

● supporting individuals and families to cope with the problems of FGM and with adjusting to change.

 
Remember to work with the community not against them. FGM is child abuse and violence against women and children. Let’s fight it. Any preconceived notions or insensitivity towards the practice may turn a community against outside help and therefore add to the difficulty of addressing the original issue.

 

Monday 21 October 2013

Female Genital Mutilation and Identifying girls and young women at risk

and young women at risk

Knowing who has been mutilated or is at risk is often difficult. This is difficult because:

• it happens only once

• parents may believe FGM is a good thing to do for their daughters

• the genitalia of girls are rarely examined

• it is not culturally acceptable for girls to talk openly about FGM.

But remember there is a risk if:

• the girl’s mother or her older sisters have been cut

• the mother has limited contact with people outside of her family

• the paternal grandmother is very influential within the family

• the mother has poor access to information about FGM

• no one talks to the mother about FGM

• health, social service and education staff fail to respond appropriately

• communities are given the impression that FGM is not taken seriously by the statutory sector.

Step up and say No to FGM. It has nothing to do with culture or religion. Spread the message and say no to an unnecessary, horrific procedure that has no value to a woman’s body.