“When my mother called me to say that the time of cutting had arrived, I just escaped to Belgium with my daughterâ€: identifying turning points in the change of attitudes towards the practice of female genital mutilation among migrant women in Belgium

Background:Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a public health concern with negative consequences on women’shealth. It is a harmful practice which is recognized in international discourses on public health as a form of gender-based violence. Women are not only victims of this, but also perpetrators. The practice of FGM remains a socialnorm which is difficult to change because it is deeply rooted in tradition and is embedded in the patriarchalsystem. However, some women have managed to change their attitudes towards it and have spoken out against it.This study identifies and describesturning p... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Agboli, Afi
Richard, Fabienne
Aujoulat, Isabelle
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
Verlag/Hrsg.: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Schlagwörter: Obstetrics and Gynaecology / Reproductive Medicine / General Medicine / Female genital mutilation / Turning Points / Migrants women / Patriarchal system / Emotions
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27377136
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/230009

Background:Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a public health concern with negative consequences on women’shealth. It is a harmful practice which is recognized in international discourses on public health as a form of gender-based violence. Women are not only victims of this, but also perpetrators. The practice of FGM remains a socialnorm which is difficult to change because it is deeply rooted in tradition and is embedded in the patriarchalsystem. However, some women have managed to change their attitudes towards it and have spoken out against it.This study identifies and describesturning pointsthat have been defined as significant and critical events in thelives of the women, and that have engendered changes in their attitudes towards the practice of FGM.Methods:We have conducted an inductive qualitative study based on the life story approach, where weinterviewed 15 women who have undergone FGM. During the interviews, we discussed and identified the turningpoints that gave the research participants the courage to change their position regarding FGM. The analysis drewon lifeline constructions and thematic analysis.Results:Six commonturning pointsrelating to a change in attitude towards FGM were identified:turning pointsrelated to (i) encounters with health professionals, (ii) education, (iii) social interactions with other cultures and theirown culture, (iv) experiences of motherhood, (v) repeated pain during sexual or reproductive activity, and (vi)witnessing the effects of some harmful consequences of FGM on loved ones. Conclusions:Theturning pointsidentified challenged the understanding of what it means to be a‘member’of thecommunity in a patriarchal system; a‘normal woman’according to the community; and what it means to be a‘good mother’. Moreover, the turning points manifested in conjunction with issues centered on emotionalresponses and coming to terms with conflicts of loyalty, which we see as possible triggers behind the shiftexperienced by the women in our sample.