Guest editorial

Citation

Reisel, D. (2016), "Guest editorial", International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 9 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-02-2016-0001

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Volume 9, Issue 1.

Dan Reisel

Dan Reisel is Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, London, UK.

Tackling female genital mutilation (FGM) through empirical research and cultural dialogue

FGM, also known as “female genital cutting”, or “circumcision”, refers to procedures involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons (World Health Organization, 2008; UK Department of Health, 2015). FGM is practised in over 30 different African countries, as well as several countries in South-East Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia. However, due to increased migration and globalisation, FGM is now found in most countries around the world. The practice of FGM is a violation of fundamental human rights and is considered a severe and pervasive form of child abuse, breaching the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations Children’s Fund, 2013; Royal College of Midwives, 2013).

In order to effectively tackle FGM, we need to move beyond condemnation and explore the reasons why the practice continues. This special issue is dedicated to that investigation, and, in doing so, brings together researchers from a number of different disciplines. The first paper is an extensive report entitled “Demographic perspectives of female genital mutilation” (Liang et al., 2016), from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This report grows out of work that has been carried out over the last decade by the UNFPA and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Firmly grounded in a rights-based perspective, it carefully maintains a dialogue with practicing communities in terms of preserving the positive cultural practices that support and empower women and girls.

The second paper, “Belief systems enforcing female genital mutilation in Europe” (Alhassan et al., 2016), explores the differing rationales that underlie the continued existence of FGM within the European Union. This work is the result of a five-year collaboration from 2010-2015 by a consortium of seven academic and civil society organisations, coordinated by Coventry University in the UK. The project is notable for their innovative, immersive methodology, which employs participatory action research methods to identify particular behaviours and attitudes that contribute to the perpetuation of FGM in Europe. Only by elucidating the belief structures and the norms that propagate the practice of FGM, can there be a chance of challenging and ultimately altering it.

The third paper is continues the painstaking and highly rewarding work of understanding cultural norms and attitudes that enable the continued practice of FGM, but extends them to the male perspective. “Male perspectives on FGM among communities of African heritage in Italy” (Catania et al., 2016), explores attitudes that men in FGM-practising communities in Europe have towards FGM. Participants were drawn from communities whose heritage is from Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Benin, Egypt and Nigeria. Of particular interest is the differing role that religion inhabits vis-à-vis FGM, with religious motivations cited both as rationale for, and as argument against, the practice.

The fourth paper, entitled “The impact of FGM on Shangani women in Zimbabwe” (Mutanda and Rukondo, 2016), returns the focus to the women most directly affected by FGM. This paper, authored by a research group based in Harare, maps out the troubling consequences of FGM in the context of the high prevalence of HIV in South-Eastern part of Zimbabwe. In particular, it explores the attitudes of the Shangani community, amongst whom FGM is a common, normative practice and where young girls are socialised early on into believing that it is a necessary and desirable step to adulthood. Both the ritual practice itself and the dismembering consequences it confers are independent but interconnected risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases, the most devastating of which is HIV.

The final paper in this collection is a comment paper, is entitled, “Constructing the female body: using female genital mutilation law to address gential-normalizing surgery on intersex children in the United States” (Fraser, 2016). It brings a different perspective on the increasingly urgent discussion of the ethics of inter-sex surgery, an area largely overlooked by the medical profession. The paper takes the view that intersex surgery may equate to genital mutilation in instances where there are no clear medical indications, and where there is no meaningful process of informed consent. The paper uses the insights gained from studying FGM, and examines how they may inform the discourse around so-called “normalizing surgery”.

Together, these articles make for rewarding – if at times painful – reading. It is only through understanding the full range of cultural practices of FGM, how it is rooted in ancient beliefs and maintained through complex behavioural norms and attitudes, that we may be able to change them. Cultural change will only come about through a commitment to empirical research and increased cultural understanding. Thus we are grateful to the Series Editor, Dr Theo Gavrielides, for supporting this effort in dedicating this special issue to the pressing human rights issue that is FGM.

References

Alhassan, Y.N., Barrett, H., Brown, K.E. and Kwah, K. (2016), “Belief systems enforcing female genital mutilation in Europe”, International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 29-40.

Catania, L., Mastrullo, R., Caselli, A., Cecere, R., Abdulcadir, O. and Abdulcadir, J., (2016), “Female genital mutilation/cutting: perspectives of men from Benin, Eritrea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Somalia after migration to Italy“, International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 41-51

Fraser, S. (2016), “Constructing the female body: using female genital mutilation law to address genital-normalizing surgery on intersex children in the United States”, International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 62-72.

Liang, M., Loaiza, E., Diop, N.J. and Legesse, B. (2016), “Demographic perspectives of female genital mutilation”, International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 3-28.

Mutanda, D. and Rukondo, H. (2016), “The impact of FGM on Shangani women in Zimbabwe”, International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 52-61.

Royal College of Midwives (2013), Tackling FGM in the UK: Intercollegiate Recommendations for Identifying, Recording and Reporting, Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Equality Now, Unite, RCM, London.

UK Department of Health (2015), Female Genital Mutilation Risk and Safeguarding. Guidance for Professionals, DH, London.

United Nations Children’s Fund (2013), “Female genital mutilation/cutting: a statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change”, UNICEF, New York, NY.

World Health Organization (2008), Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation: An Interagency Statement, World Health Organization, Geneva.