Attitudes towards comparison of male and female genital cutting in a Swedish Somali population

Hanberger, Adam; Essén, Birgitta; Wahlberg, Anna

doi:10.1111/aogs.14114

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…First, we should distinguish between the attitudes of those in the 'global Dawoodi Bohra religious community' who reside in contexts other than Western liberal democracies (i.e., the majority), who plausibly have not been exposed to alternative points of view about their practice to the same extent as have those within the community who have migrated to, or were born in, countries such as the US or UK. Indeed, there is a body of evidence suggesting that women who grew up in genital cutting cultures but subsequently migrated to Western countries often change their minds about the practice: from seeing it as 'normal, natural, and beautiful' to something that is inconsistent with their newfound notions of bodily and sexual integrity (Johnsdotter and Essén, 2016;Hanberger et al, 2021;O'Neill and Pallitto, 2021). Since the topic of Shweder's piece is, primarily, Western law and policy regarding child genital cutting practices, it is a category error to cite the views of the 'global' Dawoodi Bohra community -most of whose members have been socialized and continue to reside in locations outside of that cultural and legal context -in support of Western tolerance of female 'circumcision' of minors.…”

Section: Changing Perspectives and Moral Reasonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Against legalising female ‘circumcision’ of minors: a reply to ‘The prosecution of Dawoodi Bohra women’ by Richard Shweder

Earp

2022

Global Discourse

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Defenders of male circumcision increasingly argue that female ‘circumcision’ (cutting of the clitoral hood or labia) should be legally allowed in Western liberal democracies even when non-consensual. In his target article, Richard Shweder (2021) gives perhaps the most persuasive articulation of this argument to have so far appeared in the literature. In my own work, I argue that no person should be subjected to medically unnecessary genital cutting of any kind without their own informed consent, regardless of the sex characteristics with which they were born or the religious or cultural background of their parents. Professor Shweder and I agree that Western law and policy on child genital cutting is currently beset with cultural, religious and sex-based double standards. We disagree about what should be done about this. In this commentary, I argue that ‘legalising’ childhood FGC so as to bring it into line with current treatment of childhood MGC is not an acceptable solution to these problems. Instead, all medically unnecessary genital cutting of non-consenting persons should be opposed on moral and legal grounds and discouraged by all appropriate means. Key messages <ul><li>Under current legal norms, children with female-typical sex traits, male-typical sex traits, and intersex traits are treated fundamentally differently when it comes to protection from medically unnecessary, non-consensual genital cutting</li> <li>Defenders of non-consensual male circumcision increasingly argue that non-consensual female ‘circumcision’ should be legalized in Western liberal democracies</li> <li>Advocates of children’s rights counter that all non-consenting persons, irrespective of their sex-characteristics, should be protected from medically unnecessary, non-consensual genital cutting</li> <li>An emerging view is that non-consensual child genital cutting of any type is already contrary to criminal law, constituting physical assault and battery; parents cannot legally “consent” to the physical assault of their children</li> <li>Nevertheless, questions remain about the prudence of applying criminal sanctions (at least in the immediate future) to parents or providers who authorize or perform child genital cutting</li></ul>

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Section: Changing Perspectives and Moral Reasonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Against legalising female ‘circumcision’ of minors: a reply to ‘The prosecution of Dawoodi Bohra women’ by Richard Shweder

Earp

2022

Global Discourse

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Reconsidering the role of patriarchy in upholding female genital modifications: analysis of contemporary and pre-industrial societies

2022

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), customary female genital modification practices common in parts of Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East are inherently patriarchal: they reflect deep-rooted inequality between the sexes characterized by male dominance and constitute an extreme form of discrimination against women. However, scholars have noted that while many societies have genital modification rites only for boys, with no equivalent rite for girls, the inverse does not hold. Rather, almost all societies that practice ritual female genital modification also practice ritual male genital modification, often for comparable reasons on children of similar ages, with the female rites led by women and the male rites led by men. In contrast, then, to the situation for boys in various cultures, girls are not singled out for genital modification on account of their sex or gender; nor do the social meanings of the female rites necessarily reflect a lower status. In some cases, the women’s rite serves to promote female within-sex bonding and network building—as the men’s rite typically does for males—thereby counterbalancing gendered asymmetries in political power and weakening male dominance in certain spheres. In such cases, and to that extent, the female rites can be described as counter-patriarchal. Selective efforts to discourage female genital modifications may thus inadvertently undermine women-centered communal networks while leaving male bonding rites intact. Scholars and activists should not rely on misleading generalizations from the WHO about the relationship between genital cutting and the social positioning of women as compared to men. To illustrate the complexity of this relationship, we compare patterns of practice across contemporary societies while also highlighting anthropological data regarding pre-industrial societies. Regarding the latter, we find no association between the presence of a female initiation rite and a key aspect of patriarchy as it is classically understood, namely, social endorsement of a gendered double-standard regarding premarital sexual activity. We situate this finding within the broader literature and discuss potential implications.

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Genital Modifications in Prepubescent Minors: When May Clinicians Ethically Proceed?

2024

The American Journal of Bioethics

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Attitudes towards comparison of male and female genital cutting in a Swedish Somali population

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Against legalising female ‘circumcision’ of minors: a reply to ‘The prosecution of Dawoodi Bohra women’ by Richard Shweder

Against legalising female ‘circumcision’ of minors: a reply to ‘The prosecution of Dawoodi Bohra women’ by Richard Shweder

Reconsidering the role of patriarchy in upholding female genital modifications: analysis of contemporary and pre-industrial societies

Genital Modifications in Prepubescent Minors: When May Clinicians Ethically Proceed?

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