Conference Presentations by R. Elise B Johansen
Female Genital Cutting - The global North and South, 2020
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PLOS One, 2020
Background
Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is a traditionally meaningful practice in Africa, the Mid... more Background
Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is a traditionally meaningful practice in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It is associated with a high risk of long-term physical and psychosexual health problems. Girls and women with FGC-related health problems need specialized healthcare services such as psychosexual counseling, deinfibulation, and clitoral reconstruction. Moreover, the need for psychosexual counseling increases in countries of immigration where FGC is not accepted and possibly stigmatized. In these countries, the practice loses its cultural meaning and girls and women with FGC are more likely to report psychosexual problems. In Norway, a country of immigration, psychosexual counseling is lacking. To decide whether to provide this and/or other services, it is important to explore the intention of the target population to use FGC-related healthcare services. That is as deinfibulation, an already available service, is underutilized. In this article, we explore whether girls and women with FGC intend to use FGC-related healthcare services, regardless of their availability in Norway.
Methods
We conducted 61 in-depth interviews with 26 Somali and Sudanese participants with FGC in Norway. We then validated our findings in three focus group discussions with additional 17 participants.
Findings
We found that most of our participants were positive towards psychosexual counseling and would use it if available. We also identified four cultural scenarios with different sets of sexual norms that centered on getting and/or staying married, and which largely influenced the participants’ intention to use FGC-related services. These cultural scenarios are the virgin, the passive-, the conditioned active-, and the equal- sexual partner scenarios. Participants with negative attitudes towards the use of almost all of the FGC-related healthcare services were influenced by a set of norms pertaining to virginity and passive sexual behavior. In contrast, participants with positive attitudes towards the use of all of these same services were influenced by another set of norms pertaining to sexual and gender equality. On the other hand, participants with positive attitudes towards the use of services that can help to improve their marital sexual lives, yet negative towards the use of premarital services were influenced by a third set of norms that combined norms from the two aforementioned sets of norms.
Conclusion
The intention to use FGC-related healthcare services varies between and within the different ethnic groups. Moreover, the same girl or woman can have different attitudes towards the use of the different FGC-related healthcare services or even towards the same services at the different stages of her life. These insights could prove valuable for Norwegian and other policy-makers and healthcare professionals during the planning and/or delivery of FGC-related healthcare services.
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Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2020
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Papers of International conference held in Madrid on 3-4 February 2017
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Papers by R. Elise B Johansen
Bulletin of The World Health Organization, Apr 1, 2010
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Frontiers in Sociology, Aug 12, 2022
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The prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is being reduced in almost all countries in whi... more The prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is being reduced in almost all countries in which it is a traditional practice. However there are huge variations between countries and communities with no change at all, to countries and communities where the practice has been more than halved from one generation to the next. The dramatic decline found in some countries is an inspiring example of how change is possible. It is further believed that the various interventions implemented over the last 30-40 years have been instrumental in stimulating this reduction in prevalence. But in most cases the reduction has been rather slow and questions about the efficacy of interventions to eliminate FGM have been raised. Given the urgent importance to eliminate FGM and the limited resources available, we find it important to steer discussion towards the most efficient interventions. The intention of this paper is therefore to contribute to the design of more effective interventions, by assessing existing knowledge of what works and what doesn’t and by suggesting key elements for effective interventions. To do this the paper discusses some of the most common types of interventions that have been evaluated: health risk approaches, conversion of excisers, training of health professionals as change agents, alternative rituals, community empowerment approaches, public declarations and legal measures.
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Obstetrics and Gynecology International, 2013
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Qualitative Health Research, Jan 10, 2021
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PLOS ONE, Aug 15, 2019
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Ethnicities, 2020
Based on fieldwork that aimed to gather more knowledge on female genital cutting among Kurdish–No... more Based on fieldwork that aimed to gather more knowledge on female genital cutting among Kurdish–Norwegians, in this article we report on how research participants would often talk about male circumcision instead. Informed by current scholarship and public discourse on female genital cutting and male circumcision, we identified three themes when analysing how and why the participants would talk about male circumcision rather than female genital cutting: (1) the condemnation of female genital cutting; (2) the acceptability of male circumcision and (3) the questioning of the acceptability of male circumcision. We do not attempt to provide solutions to whether some forms of male circumcision are less, equally or more harmful than some forms of female genital cutting, or whether they are comparable and both should thus either be legitimized or banned. Rather we aim to provide insights into these dilemmas by the use of the concept of ‘mapping controversies’ associated with actor–network th...
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Plos One, 2021
Background Girls and women subjected to female genital cutting (FGC) risk experiencing obstetrica... more Background Girls and women subjected to female genital cutting (FGC) risk experiencing obstetrical, gynecological, sexual, and psychological health problems. Therefore, Norway has established low-threshold specialized healthcare services where girls and women with FGCrelated health problems can directly seek medical attention. Nevertheless, we lack data about access to these services, especially for non-maternity-related purposes. In this article, we explore experiences of seeking medical attention for health problems that are potentially FGC-related, aiming to identify factors that hinder or facilitate access to FGC-specialized services.
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PLOS One, 2022
Somali and Sudanese transnational discourses on female genital cutting (FGC) center on a shift fr... more Somali and Sudanese transnational discourses on female genital cutting (FGC) center on a shift from infibulation to sunna circumcision, a change perceived to reduce health risks and accommodate religious teaching, yet this shift is far less extensive and substantial than its typical portrayal suggests. Based on data from interviews and focus group discussions with 95 migrants of Somali and Sudanese origin, in this paper, I explore these migrants' discourses of change and how and why they seem blurred and contradictory. Most participants described the ongoing abandonment of infibulation and uptake of sunna circumcision in terms of civilization, modernization and transition toward a more correct Islam; however, their perceptions of the anatomical extents and religious and cultural meanings of sunna circumcision appeared blurred and contradictory. We suggest that these blurred and contradictory perceptions of sunna circumcision enable the study's participants to maneuver in a context of opposing and changing social norms regarding FGC.
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Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift, 2023
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Frontiers in Sociology, 2022
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Culture, Health & Sexuality, 2020
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BMC Health Services Research, Jan 25, 2023
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Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology Canada, Feb 1, 2020
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Conference Presentations by R. Elise B Johansen
Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is a traditionally meaningful practice in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It is associated with a high risk of long-term physical and psychosexual health problems. Girls and women with FGC-related health problems need specialized healthcare services such as psychosexual counseling, deinfibulation, and clitoral reconstruction. Moreover, the need for psychosexual counseling increases in countries of immigration where FGC is not accepted and possibly stigmatized. In these countries, the practice loses its cultural meaning and girls and women with FGC are more likely to report psychosexual problems. In Norway, a country of immigration, psychosexual counseling is lacking. To decide whether to provide this and/or other services, it is important to explore the intention of the target population to use FGC-related healthcare services. That is as deinfibulation, an already available service, is underutilized. In this article, we explore whether girls and women with FGC intend to use FGC-related healthcare services, regardless of their availability in Norway.
Methods
We conducted 61 in-depth interviews with 26 Somali and Sudanese participants with FGC in Norway. We then validated our findings in three focus group discussions with additional 17 participants.
Findings
We found that most of our participants were positive towards psychosexual counseling and would use it if available. We also identified four cultural scenarios with different sets of sexual norms that centered on getting and/or staying married, and which largely influenced the participants’ intention to use FGC-related services. These cultural scenarios are the virgin, the passive-, the conditioned active-, and the equal- sexual partner scenarios. Participants with negative attitudes towards the use of almost all of the FGC-related healthcare services were influenced by a set of norms pertaining to virginity and passive sexual behavior. In contrast, participants with positive attitudes towards the use of all of these same services were influenced by another set of norms pertaining to sexual and gender equality. On the other hand, participants with positive attitudes towards the use of services that can help to improve their marital sexual lives, yet negative towards the use of premarital services were influenced by a third set of norms that combined norms from the two aforementioned sets of norms.
Conclusion
The intention to use FGC-related healthcare services varies between and within the different ethnic groups. Moreover, the same girl or woman can have different attitudes towards the use of the different FGC-related healthcare services or even towards the same services at the different stages of her life. These insights could prove valuable for Norwegian and other policy-makers and healthcare professionals during the planning and/or delivery of FGC-related healthcare services.
Papers by R. Elise B Johansen
Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is a traditionally meaningful practice in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It is associated with a high risk of long-term physical and psychosexual health problems. Girls and women with FGC-related health problems need specialized healthcare services such as psychosexual counseling, deinfibulation, and clitoral reconstruction. Moreover, the need for psychosexual counseling increases in countries of immigration where FGC is not accepted and possibly stigmatized. In these countries, the practice loses its cultural meaning and girls and women with FGC are more likely to report psychosexual problems. In Norway, a country of immigration, psychosexual counseling is lacking. To decide whether to provide this and/or other services, it is important to explore the intention of the target population to use FGC-related healthcare services. That is as deinfibulation, an already available service, is underutilized. In this article, we explore whether girls and women with FGC intend to use FGC-related healthcare services, regardless of their availability in Norway.
Methods
We conducted 61 in-depth interviews with 26 Somali and Sudanese participants with FGC in Norway. We then validated our findings in three focus group discussions with additional 17 participants.
Findings
We found that most of our participants were positive towards psychosexual counseling and would use it if available. We also identified four cultural scenarios with different sets of sexual norms that centered on getting and/or staying married, and which largely influenced the participants’ intention to use FGC-related services. These cultural scenarios are the virgin, the passive-, the conditioned active-, and the equal- sexual partner scenarios. Participants with negative attitudes towards the use of almost all of the FGC-related healthcare services were influenced by a set of norms pertaining to virginity and passive sexual behavior. In contrast, participants with positive attitudes towards the use of all of these same services were influenced by another set of norms pertaining to sexual and gender equality. On the other hand, participants with positive attitudes towards the use of services that can help to improve their marital sexual lives, yet negative towards the use of premarital services were influenced by a third set of norms that combined norms from the two aforementioned sets of norms.
Conclusion
The intention to use FGC-related healthcare services varies between and within the different ethnic groups. Moreover, the same girl or woman can have different attitudes towards the use of the different FGC-related healthcare services or even towards the same services at the different stages of her life. These insights could prove valuable for Norwegian and other policy-makers and healthcare professionals during the planning and/or delivery of FGC-related healthcare services.
These words are from the keynote lecture at the 9th FOKO conference in Sweden, Female Genital Cutting: The Global North & South, which appears as a chapter in this anthology. This keynote was delivered by Professor Ellen Gruenbaum, an American anthropologist who has done research on this subject for more than four decades. The other chapters build on research papers presented at the conference, covering studies done in countries where circumcision of girls is widely practiced as well as those from European countries which host migrant communities that are affected by these practices. The collection covers a wide range of the issues that currently demand attention among Nordic researchers in the field of female genital cutting.