A qualitative study on female genital cutting among Kurdish-Norwegians

Abstract

Based on fieldwork among Kurdish-Norwegians, Ingvild Bergom Lunde’s doctoral thesis shows how condemnation and silence are central in how research participants relate to female genital cutting (FGC). The stigma associated with the work against FGC, which aims to strengthen girls’ and women’s health and rights, can be difficult to deal with, but it may also serve to strengthen boys’ and men’s right to bodily integrity and promote women’s rights to sexual pleasure and desire. FGC was both silenced and addressed as a Kurdish problem. Even though conservative forces are part of the Kurdish nation-building project, condemnation and silence around FGC can be interpreted as a way to position Kurdish national aspirations within human rights and gender equality. FGC was often silenced in close relationships. From public discourse, participants learn that circumcised women are sexually destroyed. Condemning the practice gave partners an opportunity to talk about how FGC may affect their sexual relations. The type of FGC practiced among Kurds is not easily separated from boy circumcision. The research participants expressed confusion over FGC as rejected, and boy circumcision as acceptable.