Female Genital Mutilation and Attitude of the Community Towards the Practice in Gindeberet District
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Date
2007-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
FCII/alr genital mutilation (FGM) is one of the harmful traditional practices (HTPs)
11'011[('17 i17 many cou ntries have been suffering f rom. The practicing communities give
(III(c'rellt jus tifica tions for FGM. These justifications perpetuated this age-old practice. [n
(,oll/lmtil'lg FGM, therefore, it is necessanj to identifij the reasons that a particular
(o lllllllinity gives regarding the practice. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to
assess the rationale for practicing FGM in Gindeberet district, the attitude of the
cOIlllllunity towards the practice and the attitudinal difference based on age, gender and
edllmtiollal level. Sample for the study included 148 residents of four kebeles of
Gilldeberet district, 208 grade 12 students of Gindeberet Senior Secondanj School,
Wall/en Affairs Officer, community opinion leaders and religious leaders from three
different religious groups. To elicit the necessary information from the participants,
questionnaires, intenliews and focus group discussions were used. The study has shown
tlwl tradition was the most commonly mentioned reason for FGM in the study area. [t
IPrlS also found tilat all of the married female participants mith the average age of 35.5
years IlIIdllndergone FGM milereas only 63.4% offemale studen ts those mitl! the (Il1erage
age of 19.7 years mere subjected to the practice. Thus, FGM was more prevalent among
the older generation than the younger one. Regarding attitude towards FGM, age and
edllcationallevel were found to be influencing factors. That is, majority of the young and
,'tlll ca led participants favored the discontinuation of FGM and indicated that they mould
/101 do FeM on their daughters. These participants further indicated that tlley would
pllblicly denounce the practice whereas the rel>erse was true for the older participants
11'1/0 ll'ere beloll> secondary education. Majority of the male students shamed preference
for IImn.utilated girl as their future partner. As it was generally found out that literacy
illfluellces one's attitude towards FGM, it was suggested that awareness creation
programs should be organized to sensitize the public about FGM. These programs should
inc/ude both males and females as FGM is rooted in tl1£ custom of the communihj and
((/lIIIOt be eradicated by the exclusive effort of either party. To stop FGM, participatory
s/l'lliegy sl/Ould be fo lloll'ed. That is, the community itself should be invoil>ed in the
process of banning FGM rather than imposing the standard on the community
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Keywords
(FGM), Female genital mutilation