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Full-Text Articles in Sociology of Culture
Evaluation Of The Long-Term Impact Of The Tostan Programme On The Abandonment Of Fgm/C And Early Marriage: Results From A Qualitative Study In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Amadou Moreau, Helene Benga
Evaluation Of The Long-Term Impact Of The Tostan Programme On The Abandonment Of Fgm/C And Early Marriage: Results From A Qualitative Study In Senegal, Nafissatou J. Diop, Amadou Moreau, Helene Benga
Reproductive Health
In 1998–99, a village empowerment program was implemented in the Thiès/Fatick and Kolda regions of Senegal by the nongovernmental organization Tostan, to mobilize communities to hold public declarations in support of abandoning harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage. The information presented in this report indicates that many did end the practices following a public declaration, however, the lack of follow-up in the field and the absence of support mechanisms pose a large obstacle. Nevertheless, the program achieved significant results: knowledge of life skills resulting in positive changes and a shift in the perception of FGM/C …
Senegal: Education And Public Declarations Contribute To Tostan's Success, Population Council
Senegal: Education And Public Declarations Contribute To Tostan's Success, Population Council
Reproductive Health
In 1998, the nongovernmental organization Tostan implemented a village empowerment program in southern and western Senegal to help communities, especially women, improve living and health conditions in their villages, and to mobilize villages to hold public declarations supporting abandonment of harmful practices, particularly female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage. The program included modules on hygiene, literacy and numeracy, human rights, and children’s and women’s health. The Tostan approach has since been implemented more broadly in Senegal and in Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Sudan. In 2005–06, FRONTIERS evaluated the long-term impact of the program, focusing on the abandonment of FGM/C …
Kenya: Training Can Enhance Providers' Management Of Fgm/C And Willingness To Advocate Against The Practice, Population Council
Kenya: Training Can Enhance Providers' Management Of Fgm/C And Willingness To Advocate Against The Practice, Population Council
Reproductive Health
In 2004, FRONTIERS collaborated with UNICEF on a study of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Kenya’s Somali community and on ways of managing maternal care for cut women. The study showed that the health-care system in North Eastern Province, where many Somalis live, is ill prepared to deal with women who have been cut, particularly infibulated women who are pregnant or delivering. The study recommended improving providers’ ability to counsel and treat pregnant cut women as part of an overall improvement of maternal care, and strengthening providers’ role as behavior change agents within communities. In 2005, FRONTIERS launched an intervention …
Burkina Faso: Political Will, Law Enforcement, And Educational Campaigns Appear To Be Reducing Fgm/C, Population Council
Burkina Faso: Political Will, Law Enforcement, And Educational Campaigns Appear To Be Reducing Fgm/C, Population Council
Reproductive Health
In 2006, FRONTIERS collaborated with the National Committee Against the Practice of FGM/C on an analysis of recent trends in female genital mutilation/circumcision (FGM/C) in rural and urban Burkina Faso. The study, conducted to help develop policies and programs for FGM/C abandonment in Burkina Faso and more widely in Africa, had three components: a description of the institutional, political, and programmatic environment in Burkina; a secondary analysis of data from existing studies; and an assessment of the community’s perceptions and behavior regarding FGM/C, as well as the factors that contribute to abandonment or continuation of the practice. For the policy …
Dissocier Les Mutilations Génitales Féminines De L'Islam, Ibrahim Lethome Asmani, Maryam Sheikh Abdi
Dissocier Les Mutilations Génitales Féminines De L'Islam, Ibrahim Lethome Asmani, Maryam Sheikh Abdi
Reproductive Health
Les mutilations ou excisions génitales féminines (MGF/E) sont pratiquées dans au moins 28 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne, quelques pays du Moyen-Orient et d'Asie, et parmi les populations immigrées de ces pays en Europe, en Amérique du Nord et en Australie. Dans le monde, on estime que 100 à 140 millions de filles et de femmes ont subi cette pratique, et au moins trois millions de filles sont à risque chaque année. La communauté ethnique somalienne au Kenya ainsi qu'en Somalie, à Djibouti et en Éthiopie pratique l'excision depuis des siècles et la pratique semble être restée largement inchangée. Le programme FRONTIERS …
Kenya: Islamic Scholars Find No Religious Justification For Fgm/C, Population Council
Kenya: Islamic Scholars Find No Religious Justification For Fgm/C, Population Council
Reproductive Health
In 2004, FRONTIERS undertook a study on the cultural basis of female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) in Kenya’s Somali community. The study showed universal support for FGM/C, and indicated that one of the major justifications is the perception that Islam requires female as well as male genital cutting. Interviews with informants showed that belief in the religious justification overrides arguments about the health and human rights aspects and the knowledge that it is illegal in Kenya. In 2005, FRONTIERS launched an intervention to engage the community in discussions about FGM/C to clarify the religious position. FRONTIERS arranged symposia involving …
Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting From Islam, Ibrahim Lethome Asmani, Maryam Sheikh Abdi
Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting From Islam, Ibrahim Lethome Asmani, Maryam Sheikh Abdi
Reproductive Health
Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is practiced in at least 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, a few countries in the Middle East and Asia, and among immigrant populations from these countries in Europe, North America, and Australia. Worldwide, an estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women have undergone the practice, and at least three million girls are at risk each year. The Somali ethnic community in Kenya as well in Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, has practiced female genital cutting for centuries and the practice appears to have remained largely unchanged. The Population Council’s FRONTIERS program carried out two …
Analysis Of The Evolution Of The Practice Of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting In Burkina Faso, Nafissatou J. Diop, Zakari Congo, Aina Ouedraogo, Alphosine Sawadogo, Lydia Saloucou, Ida Tamini
Analysis Of The Evolution Of The Practice Of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting In Burkina Faso, Nafissatou J. Diop, Zakari Congo, Aina Ouedraogo, Alphosine Sawadogo, Lydia Saloucou, Ida Tamini
Reproductive Health
This study was undertaken as a collaboration between the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health program and the Comité National de Lutte contre la Pratique de l’Excision (CNLPE) within the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity in Burkina Faso. The creation of a favorable environment for the campaign against excision in Burkina Faso has facilitated various anti-cutting activities over the past two decades and enabled the achievement of gains, both in terms of awareness and behavior change. However some of the strategies need further readjustment: among the reasons why excision still continues in Burkina Faso is a certain view …
Kenya: Mobilize Health Care Providers To Advocate Against Fgm/C, Frontiers In Reproductive Health
Kenya: Mobilize Health Care Providers To Advocate Against Fgm/C, Frontiers In Reproductive Health
Reproductive Health
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is illegal in Kenya. The practice has declined slightly, yet it is nearly universal among the Abagusii, a relatively affluent ethnic group residing in the Nyanza province in western Kenya. Half of cut women reported that they had been cut by a health worker, however providers express willingness to advocate against the practice. This study, launched in 2004 by the Population Council’s FRONTIERS Program, examined the role of health providers in FGM/C in Kenya’s Abagusii community. As noted in this brief, the objectives were to understand the motivations behind the medicalization of FGM/C and determine the …
Kenya: Begin Community Dialogue On Fgm/C By Discussing Cultural Justification, Frontiers In Reproductive Health
Kenya: Begin Community Dialogue On Fgm/C By Discussing Cultural Justification, Frontiers In Reproductive Health
Reproductive Health
Female genital cutting is strongly supported among the Somali ethnic community in Kenya, and the severest form (infibulation) is primarily practiced. This type of cut is associated with increased incidence and seriousness of obstetric and gynecological problems relative to uncut women and those with less severe forms of FGM/C. As stated in this brief, efforts to encourage abandonment should begin with community discussion about the socio-cultural reasons for cutting. Simultaneously, health-care providers need training in how to manage complications of FGM/C. In 2004, FRONTIERS collaborated with UNICEF on a four-month diagnostic study on FGM/C practices among the Somali community in …
Technical Assistance To Organizations In Guinea Seeking To Reduce Female Genital Cutting, Nafissatou J. Diop
Technical Assistance To Organizations In Guinea Seeking To Reduce Female Genital Cutting, Nafissatou J. Diop
Reproductive Health
This reports details the technical assistance the Population Council’s FRONTIERS program provided to WHO’s Africa Bureau to implement a project addressing medicalization of female genital cutting (FGC), and to support Tostan in replicating its program in Guinea. Technical assistance had several aims: to improve the effectiveness of strategies to abandon FGC in Guinea, to assist WHO in developing and implementing a project to reduce FGC medicalization by health providers, to build the capacity of Guinean organizations to appropriately monitor and evaluate their FGC-related activities, and to enable the Comité de Lutte contre les Pratiques Traditionnelles portant Atteinte aux Femmes (CPTAFE) …
Female Genital Cutting Among The Somali Of Kenya And Management Of Its Complications, Jaldesa Guyo, Ian Askew, Carolyne Njue, Monica Wanjiru
Female Genital Cutting Among The Somali Of Kenya And Management Of Its Complications, Jaldesa Guyo, Ian Askew, Carolyne Njue, Monica Wanjiru
Reproductive Health
The Somali community living in Kenya (and in their native Somalia) has practiced the severest form of female genital cutting (FGC)—infibulation—for centuries. To understand the context within which the practice takes place, and how its complications are managed, the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program undertook a diagnostic study that confirmed that FGC is a deeply rooted and widely supported cultural practice. Several closely related reasons are used to sustain the practice: religious obligation, family honor, and virginity as a prerequisite for marriage; an aesthetic preference for infibulated genitalia was also mentioned. The study also found that the health …
Women's Denial Of Having Experienced Female Genital Cutting In Northern Ghana: Explanatory Factors And Consequences For Analysis Of Survey Data, Elizabeth F. Jackson, Patricia Akweongo, Evelyn Sakeah, Abraham Hodgson, Rofina Asuru, James F. Phillips
Women's Denial Of Having Experienced Female Genital Cutting In Northern Ghana: Explanatory Factors And Consequences For Analysis Of Survey Data, Elizabeth F. Jackson, Patricia Akweongo, Evelyn Sakeah, Abraham Hodgson, Rofina Asuru, James F. Phillips
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Although many cross-sectional social surveys have included questions about female genital cutting status and correlated personal characteristics, no longitudinal studies have been launched that permit investigation of response biases associated with such surveys. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of women aged 15 to 49 in rural northern Ghana. The self-reported circumcision status of women interviewed in 1995 was compared with the status they reported when they were interviewed again in 2000 after the government began enforcing a law banning the practice and public information campaigns against it were launched. In all, 13 percent of respondents who reported in …
An Assessment Of The Alternative Rites Approach For Encouraging Abandonment Of Female Genital Mutilation In Kenya, Jane Chege, Ian Askew, Jennifer Liku
An Assessment Of The Alternative Rites Approach For Encouraging Abandonment Of Female Genital Mutilation In Kenya, Jane Chege, Ian Askew, Jennifer Liku
Reproductive Health
Maendeleo Ya Wanawake (MYWO), with technical assistance from the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), has been implementing an Alternative Rite of passage programme as part of its efforts to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in five districts in Kenya. This study addressed the factors that influence some families and individuals to adopt the Alternative Rite while others, exposed to the same messages discouraging FGM, decide not to. It also evaluated the effect of the training component of the Alternative Rite on the girls who participated.