Underlying Reasons for the Persistence of Female Genital Mutilation

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It is through this organization I have been given the opportunity to visit villages where FGM used to be performed. Gallapo Village In Gallapo village FGM used to be a part of the society and was strongly connected to the tradition of FGM. Since the illegalisation of FGM and through education and help from AFNET, the practice is no longer exercised in Gallapo. A woman who has grown up in this village explained that in order to get married, you needed to get circumcised since it was the only way for a man to get sexually satisfied. If a girl did not undergo circumcision she was shameful, not prepared for marriage, and other people in the village would gossip about her, and consider her disgraceful. The procedure would take place somewhere where only the girl’s mother or grandmother and the women performing were present. Before FGM became illegal it was done on older girls, between 5 and 15. In recent decades the woman explains that it could be done in secrecy on infant babies up to three months. It is a common tradition in some African countries, that when a baby is born, the mother and the baby stay in the house and do not go outside during a period of three months. This is the speculated time where the procedure could take place instead. A man coming from the same village was recently affected by the issues of FGM when his mother wanted his daughters to undergo the procedure. As the men in many households have the final say, he refused. He feels that it is a useless practice since when it comes to girls’ health, tradition does not matter. His mother was very keen on keeping the tradition and she felt that it was a real shame to abandon it, because she felt that it was the only way for her granddaughters to get married. The man also explained that it is highly important to educate men in this matter; he believed that the only purpose of this was to keep the girls from being with many men. If the girl is circumcised it is believed that she will only be with the man she will marry. AFNET, who works to prevent FGM, went to this area and people were informed of the dangers and consequences of this practice. According to this organization, the campaign in this particular area seemed to have been successful. AFNET operates in the affected communities by reaching out to the women performing FGM and the men upholding it. By first learning about why this tradition is important they can find the 25
core problem and take measures from there. In this particular situation one of the problems addressed was the women performing FGM, called Ngariba. Families would pay the Ngaribas to circumcise their daughters, and as they had authority to do this procedure, it also became a livelihood for them. What AFENT started with was to educate the Ngaribas and compensate for their livelihood. Ngariba from Sigino Village The tradition of FGM was very important in the village of Sigino. The former Ngariba explained that it was seen as a “declaration” for women, as well as it was an assurance for men that the woman he would marry had not been with other men before him. According to her it was an equally important practice for men since a circumcised girl was a marriageable girl. She became a Ngariba through heritage, her grandmother and her mother use to be one. When she was performing FGM the families would bring gifts and pay around 200 shilling to have their daughters circumcised, and the procedure would take place in a distance from the village. She stopped being a Ngariba when she got educated and do not regret this decision, but the primary reason was that she was concerned for her daughter’s health. The pain that she suffered when she had undergone FGM, she did not want her daughter to experience. The education the former Ngariba got from AFNET, and the concern for her daughter’s health was enough for her to stop, however she thinks that in order for the practice to truly disappear the villages and the people need to be alert of what goes on in their surroundings. Fatima, adolescent from Babati Town 64 Fatima is an orphan currently living in Babati in a Muslim orphanage in Babati Town. Fatima was born in Babati Town but moved to Kondoa to live with her grandmother when she was a little girl. According to AFNET, Kondoa, which is located in Dodoma region not far from Babati, is one of the areas where AFNET operates and have to some extent succeeded. There are however records found of girls and women that still have undergone FGM. Often it is in rural areas that are isolated and difficult to reach where the practice of FGM occurs. Fatima was about 64 Fatima is a fictive name 26
Page 1 and 2: Exempel 11, sid 4-5 Underlying Reas
Page 3 and 4: ABBREVIATIONS FGM UNICEF WHO CE
Page 6 and 7: 1. INTRODUCTION Female genital mut
Page 8 and 9: is in no way based on religious bel
Page 10 and 11: 1.4 Aims and objectives The purp
Page 12 and 13: 1.8 Disposition The study is divi
Page 14 and 15: 2.1 Qualitative case study rese
Page 16 and 17: young girl that herself had undergo
Page 18 and 19: 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The pra
Page 20 and 21: organizations and intergovernmental
Page 22 and 23: obliged to form and adjust domestic
Page 24 and 25: human rights and therefore the disc
Page 26 and 27: as the custom has spread historical
Page 28 and 29: consequences of the urine and menst
Page 32 and 33: three or four years old when her gr
Page 34 and 35: many regions that practice/practice
Page 36 and 37: morals and fundamental rights, publ
Page 38 and 39: 5.2 Discussion FGM is internation
Page 40 and 41: likely to have the practice stop in
Page 42 and 43: 6. CONCLUSIONS Throughout this ess
Page 44: Reliabilitet Validitet 2011, retrie

Underlying Reasons for the Persistence of Female Genital Mutilation

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