Listening to African Voices - FPZ

5.5.5.7. Knowledge of German law and attitudes towards theabandonment of FGM/CIt is known by more than half of the interviewed Gambians(57%) that FGM/C is outlawed in Germany. A quite considerableproportion (41%) however, is uncertain about theposition of the German legislative system. Two participantsdeclare that FGM/C is not mentioned within the Germanlegislation. There are strong gender differences regardingthe knowledge about the law: twice as many women (61%)than men (30%) have no knowledge of the position of theGerman law.Out of the 90 participants, only one woman speaks out forthe continuation of the practice. More than half of the participants,in the samples of men and women alike, want FGM/Cto stop (60%). The remaining participants answer eitherthat “it depends” or that they feel uncertainty regarding thefeasibility on how FGM/C could be abolished. A Gambianresearcher summarised his experiences as follows:“A lot of Gambians are against female circumcision here.They know themselves that it is not a good practice. Butat the same time we are attached to our traditions, notonly female circumcision, but traditions in general. It isdifficult for us to decide which part of the traditions areworthy to keep and which parts need to be left aside.This type of change takes time. And the change canstart in the heart before it is pronounced by the mouth.”(Researcher of Gambian origin)Some women seem to have an ambiguous perception. Onthe one hand, they wish to put an end to a painful tradition,on the other hand, they cannot imagine that the abolitionwill ever be accepted by their society. They don’t see anymeans of progress towards the abandonment. Others remaintraditional and have assimilated FGM/C as part of theircultural heritage they want to pursue.“In our country this practice exists since a very long time.It is a tradition. Do we have to abandonment it? If yes, itwill be a heavy and long lasting combat to make peopleunderstand why.” (woman of Gambian origin)“My position is clear: it is my tradition and it should becontinued. But I know that I cannot circumcise my daughterhere. It is forbidden. Especially since my husband isagainst it.” (woman of Gambian origin)“Our traditions are very important to us, but I also seethat we need to put an end to female circumcision. Buthow? All I know that it has to be stopped in Africa andnot in Europe. This work has to be done by Africans.”(woman of Gambian origin)The majority of the men were not in favour of FGM/C, butthey did not consider its abandonment as a priority issue.Their reactions refl ect two aspects. First, they considerFGM/C to be women’s business. Women have to decidewhether or not they want to abolish it or not. Even if theyare against the practice, some men won’t bother to followupon the status of their daughters that are growing up inGambia.“I believe that this tradition will always be there and thefunny thing is that we don’t even see the ladies practicingit. I used to hear of some feasts in Gambia. I used to evengo there and eat, but that was after it was done. You cannever see such a thing. So I wonder how people foundout about it. As for my part, I will not give the permissionfor my daughters to be circumcised.” (man of Gambianorigin)“It is the women who have to take the decision. Theyhave to stand up and say ‘no, we have suffered enough’.”(man of Gambian origin)“One of my Gambian wives is circumcised. The secondone […] is not circumcised. My wife in Gambia had twodaughters, but one died. The other one is now 24 yearsold and I refused for her to be circumcised, but I don’tknow if she is or not. Most of my girlfriends back inGambia were circumcised, all my sisters, cousins and mymother. I came to realise that it is a stupid practice. Iam against it now although it does not matter to me if Imarry a circumcised or a non-circumcised woman. But Iwould not allow it for the next generation, the young girlsto be circumcised. It was a mistake those days, it’s over.Let’s look at the future.” (man of Gambian origin, polygamouslymarried to two Gambians and one German wife)The second aspect brought to light is that men feel that theinitiative of abandoning FGM/C has to come from Africansand not from Europeans and that this initiative needs to startand to grow in Africa. Pressure from the European side isconsidered pointless.“The practice should be abandoned. But this has to bedecided by Africans and not by Europeans.” (man ofGambian origin)“I am for the abandonment of it [female circumcision],but this is an African and not a European business. It mustnot be the Europeans but the Africans to decide if andhow our traditions are changed.” (man of Gambian origin)58Listening to African Voices