The Impact of Migration on Attitudes to Female Genital Cutting and Experiences of Sexual Dysfunction Among Migrant Women with FGC

Johnsdotter, Sara

doi:10.1007/s11930-018-0139-4

Cited by 55 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Strengthening the training of health care providers is a critical intervention because capacity deficits limit the uptake of health services [59,60]. Importantly, there are numerous support tools [46] for management of FGM/ C-related complications as well as prevention of new FGM/C cases [2,47,61,62]. These tools can be useful in addressing gaps in knowledge and skills among health care providers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring barriers to seeking health care among Kenyan Somali women with female genital mutilation: a qualitative study

Kimani

Kabiru

Muteshi

et al. 2020

BMC Int Health Hum Rights

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Background: Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a cultural practice associated with health consequences, women rights and deprivation of dignity. Despite FGM/C-related health consequences, circumcised women may encounter additional challenges while seeking interventions for reproductive health problems. Experiences of women/girls while accessing health services for reproductive health problems including FGM/C-related complications in poor, remote and hard to reach areas is poorly understood. We sought to explore barriers to care seeking among Somali women with complications related to FGM/C in public health facilities in Kenya. Methods: We drew on qualitative data collected from purposively selected women aged 15-49 years living with FGM/C, their partners, community leaders, and health providers in Nairobi and Garissa Counties. Data were collected using in-depth interviews (n = 10), key informant interviews (n = 23) and 20 focus group discussions. Data were transcribed and analyzed thematically using NVivo version 12.Results: Barriers were grouped into four thematic categories. Structural barriers to care-seeking, notably high cost of care, distance from health facilities, and lack of a referral system. Concerns regarding perceived quality of care also presented a barrier. Women questioned health professionals' and health facilities' capacity to offer culturallysensitive FGM/C-specific care, plus ensuring confidentiality and privacy. Women faced socio-cultural barriers while seeking care particularly cultural taboos against discussing matters related to sexual health with male clinicians. Additionally, fear of legal sanctions given the anti-FGM/C law deterred women with FGM/C-related complications from seeking healthcare. Conclusion: Structural, socio-cultural, quality of service, and legal factors limit health seeking for reproductive health problems including FGM/C-related complications. Strengthening health system should consider integration of FGM/C-related interventions with existing maternal child health services for cost effectiveness, efficiency and quality care. The interventions should address health-related financial, physical and communication barriers, while ensuring culturally-sensitive and confidential care.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring barriers to seeking health care among Kenyan Somali women with female genital mutilation: a qualitative study

Kimani

Kabiru

Muteshi

et al. 2020

BMC Int Health Hum Rights

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“…This has been interpreted as an indication of a changed social convention [26,41]. Increased knowledge of health risks, space to voice concerns and question the practice, laws against FGC and distance from the country of origin are other factors believed to contribute to this change [24,42,43]. Of these factors, distance from the country of origin and time of residence in the diaspora have been understood as the most influential [23,27,34,42,44].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blurred transitions of female genital cutting in a Norwegian Somali community

Johansen

2019

PLoS ONE

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While diaspora communities have become more critical of Female Genital Cutting (FGC), there are also trends of continuity. To explore the interplay between continuity and change, I designed a study among Somali migrants in Norway. A team of six Somali research assistants collected data from 72 male and female research participants between 16 and 57 years of age through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The aim of the study was to gather knowledge that could improve interventions among migrant populations. The study findings indicate that the experience of FGC as a practice in transition implies that people have to maneuver between different and partly contradictory social norms. The paper first discusses the contradiction between a strong negative attitude toward FGC and very low engagement. The lack of engagement is explained by the increased privatization of FGC and insecurities due to the transition and disempowerment with regard to challenging the FGC practices of relatives based in countries of origin. Second, the paper explores the contradiction between perceptions of FGC as a disappearing practice and the recognition of trends of continuation. Trends of continuation include those related to perceptions of risk during travel to countries of origin, resistance to defibulation, support for sunna circumcision and insecurities regarding the significance of FGC for marriageability. Thus, despite an almost universally negative attitude toward FGC in the form of infibulation, ongoing changes can, to some extent, hamper further change. This suggests that to ensure further progress in the abandonment of the practice, these complex and interconnected expectations must be addressed.

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“…The convention of FGC and its sociocultural norms evolves in the context of migration (Chiatti, 2019;Gele, Johansen, & Sundby, 2012;Johnsdotter & Essén, 2016;Vangen, Johansen, Sundby, Traeen, & Stray-Pedersen, 2004;Wahlberg, Johnsdotter, Selling, Källestål, & Essén, 2017). Coined by Berg and Denison (2013) as "a tradition in transition," global migration from countries where FGC is highly prevalent to those where the practice is uncommon, criminalized, and stigmatized precipitates a cultural shift in attitudes and decline in support (see also Johnsdotter, 2018;Johnsdotter & Essén, 2016). Among diasporic communities, the underpinning forces that perpetuate (cultural tradition, sexual morals, marriageability, religion, aesthetics, perceived health benefits, and male sexual enjoyment) and hinder (health consequences, lack of religious requirement, illegality, male sexual needs, and lack of support from males) the continuance of FGC are subjected to cross-cultural scrutiny and pressures that prompt a reconsideration of the practice (Berg & Denison, 2013).…”

Section: Attitudes Norms and Control In Fluxmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some diasporic women with FGC may maintain the dominant view from their homeland of FGC being beautiful, pure, hygienic, symbolically meaningful, and enhancing one's femininity (Ahmadu, Shweder, & Richard, 2009;Chalmers, Med, & Hashi, 2000;Johnsdotter, 2018;Londoño Sulkin, 2016;Sharif Mohamed et al, 2020). While large-scale empirical evidence is lacking, several qualitative studies have described women being disconcerted and unsettled by their genital appearance post-defibulation, feeling "abnormal," "too open," "exposed," or "like an empty space" (Abdulcadir, Margairaz, Boulvain, & Irion, 2011;Abdulcadir, McLaren, Boulvain, & Irion, 2016b;Chalmers et al, 2000;Johnson-Agbakwu & Warren, 2017;Moxey & Jones, 2016;Smith & Stein, 2017).…”

Section: Attitudes Norms and Control In Fluxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sculptors of African Women’s Bodies: Forces Reshaping the Embodiment of Female Genital Cutting in the West

Johnson‐Agbakwu

Manin

2020

Arch Sex Behav

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Video featuring male performance artist, Makode Aj Linde, whose blackfaced, minstrel caricature echoes the racialized stereotypes of the post-Civil War era in United States history wherein African-Americans were dehumanized and demeaned in the public media and entertainment with exaggerated facial features, language, movement, character and deportment; codifying blackness as primitive, hypersexual, and comedic. https ://www. youtu be.com/watch ?v=z8zLM _hIw7Y (accessed 2/6/20). 2 Jezebel's Erin Gloria Ryan. 4/17/12. "Swedish Official Gleefully Cuts Racist Black Lady Cake, Delights Onlookers." https ://jezeb el.com/swedi sh-offic ial-gleef ully-cuts-racis t-black-lady-cake-59026 72 (accessed 2/6/20). 3 Ebony magazine's Jonathan Pitts-Wiley. 4/18/12. "Taking the 'Painful Cake': Reconsidering the Swedish Ministry Art Nightmare" http:// www.ebony.com/news-views/the-swedish-ministry-art-nightmare#. UyOhZrlOXVi (accessed 2/6/2020).

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The Impact of Migration on Attitudes to Female Genital Cutting and Experiences of Sexual Dysfunction Among Migrant Women with FGC

Cited by 55 publications

References 69 publications

Exploring barriers to seeking health care among Kenyan Somali women with female genital mutilation: a qualitative study

Exploring barriers to seeking health care among Kenyan Somali women with female genital mutilation: a qualitative study

Blurred transitions of female genital cutting in a Norwegian Somali community

Sculptors of African Women’s Bodies: Forces Reshaping the Embodiment of Female Genital Cutting in the West

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