Listening to African Voices - FPZ

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5.5.6. Cote d’Ivoire5.5.6.1. Socio-demographic profileThe Ivorian community is the sixth largest immigrant communityfrom Sub-Saharan Africa in Hamburg. There are 250men and 153 women adding up to a total of 403 (registered)Ivorian immigrants. We managed to interview a significantproportion of 92 men (37% out of the registered population),but were less successful in reaching the women withwhom only 18 interviews were completed. One reason forthe small number of interviewed women was that the interviewersfound it challenging to ask the spouse of Muslimwomen for an authorisation to interview their wives on thetopic of FGM/C. Another reason was that the women weremuch less likely to be found in places of public gathering. Inaddition to that, both researchers of Ivorian origin were menand they found it more difficult to approach women.5.5.6.2. Proportion of immigrant population concernedAbout 42% of the women in Cote d’Ivoire are estimatedto have undergone FGM/C. The practice is particularlywidespread in the North West (85%), North (88%), CentralNorth (64%) and the Western region (64%). The prevalenceis higher among Muslims (76%) than among different Christianaffiliations (13-15%) and believers of traditional religions(45%) (INS, Ministere de lutte contre le SIDA & ORC Macro2006).About half of the interviewed participants originally comefrom one of the Northern regions where FGM/C is highlyprevalent. Further 12 participants are from the Western region.The remaining participants are from Southern regions(mainly Abidjan), the Central region and the Eastern region.Table 30: Socio-demographic characteristics of immigrants from Cote d’IvoireSocio-demographicvariableswomen(n = 18)men(n = 92)total sample(n = 110)Age (in years)Mean (standard deviation) 32.6 (5.3) 35.3 (6.3) 34.8 (6.2)Range 24-42 18-50 18-50Average education level (in years)Mean (standard deviation) 9.9 (5.0) 12.3 (5.0) 11.9 (5.0)Range 3-19 0-25 0-25ReligionMuslim 11 (61.1%) 66 (72.5%) 77 (70.6%)Christian 6 (33.3%) 17 (18.7%) 23 (21.1%)Traditional religion 0 (0.0%) 2 (2.2%) 2 (1.8%)None believers 1 (5.6%) 6 (6.6%) 7 (6.4%)Social statusMarried (monogamous) 11 (61.1%) 26 (28.6%) 37 (33.9%)Married (polygamous) 0 (0.0%) 2 (2.2%) 2 (1.8%)Separated/divorced/widowed 1 (5.6%) 14 (15.2%) 15 (13.8%)Never been married 22 6 (33.3%) 49 (53.8%) 55 (50.4%)Migrated from a(n)Urban area 15 (83.3%) 81 (90%) 96 (88.9%)Rural area 3 (16.7%) 9 (10%) 12 (11.1%)Residence statusUnbefristet (indefinite residence permission) 2 (11.1%) 31 (34.4%) 33 (30.6%)Befristet (temporary residence permission) 11 (61.1%) 29 (32.2%) 40 (37.0%)Duldung (toleration) 1 (5.6%) 11 (12.2%) 13 (12.0%)Others/no papers/does not answer 2 (11.1%) 13 (14.4%) 15 (13.9%)German nationality 1 (5.6%) 6 (6.7%) 7 (6.5%)Time spent in Germany (in months)Mean (standard deviation) 95.9 (52.7) 129.1 (63.3) 123.6 (62.7)Range 1-192 10-264 1-264Listening to African Voices 59
The majority of the participants (77%) are from ethnicgroups in which FGM/C is known to be widespread. Overhalf of the participants (54%) also report that FGM/C hasbeen carried out in their family. Further eight participants reportuncertainty about the existence of the practice in theirfamily. The small sample of women does not allow analysinggender differences. The majority of the women (14 out of18) assert to come from practicing families.5.5.6.3. Women and girls concernedOut of the 18 women interviewed, 9 asserted that they hadnot undergone FGM/C while 6 women stated that theyhad. The remaining three women were interviewed by amale researcher who did not deem it appropriate to ask thequestion. The three women were, however, from practicinggroups. The women concerned reported that they had beentaken to a traditional woman practitioner when they wereschool girls.The majority of the participants were parents and 58 ofthem had at least one daughter. The total number of daughterswas 87 of which 59 lived in Germany.The parents reported that none of the girls living in Germanyhad undergone FGM/C. Among the 28 girls growing up inCote d’Ivoire, two had been subjected to FGM/C in theirhome country. When the parents were asked if they plannedto have their daughters undergo FGM/C in the future, aquasi totality of participants gave a negative response. Oneman reported uncertainty, but the girl did not seem to be atrisk as the father was well informed about the German law.5.5.6.4. Perceptions related to the practiceDespite the high proportion of participants from practicinggroups, the greater part (65%) perceives FGM/C as a traditionwithout any positive outcome. A few men and womengo further and perceive it very negatively, based on theirknowledge of the consequences.“It is a crime. It is an act against human dignity. There areno advantages. We condemn it firmly and without conditions.Female circumcision is frustrating for the woman.It can cause barrenness. There are a lot of circumcisedwomen who don’t feel pleasure during sexual intercourse.Some cannot have children any more.” (man of Ivorianorigin)But most participants seem to be rather indifferent: theyconsider FGM/C to be a simple tradition that has been goingon for a very long time and that is of not much concern tothem as immigrants living in Germany. Furthermore, thereis also a considerable proportion (35%) of men and womenwho see benefits in practicing FGM/C. The most frequentlynamed advantage is a more responsible sexual behaviour ofgirls and women (remaining a virgin until marriage and beingfaithful to their husbands).“…it helped our sisters to preserve themselves more, andon the night of their marriage all of them were virgins.[...] the advantage is there, our girls who have beencircumcised and our girls who have not, you can see thedifference. They behave differently. Circumcised girlshave no desire for men […], they are not thinking aboutsexual intercourse compared to the girls who have notbeen circumcised and who are always full of desire formen.[…] A circumcised girl will not commit adultery whenher husband is not there, at least it happens very rarelycompared with our sisters who have not undergone thepractice.” (man, key informant of Ivorian origin)5.5.6.5. FGM/C and religionThe greater part of the interviewees (77%) perceived FGM/Cas a cultural and not a religious practice. About 10% stateduncertainty regarding the position of their religion towardsFGM/C. Only 13% of the participants (mostly Muslim, but alsotwo Christians) perceived FGM/C to be a religious custom.5.5.6.6. Perception of disadvantages and knowledge of risksand consequencesThe participants of the Ivorian community were comparativelywell informed about the risks and medical implicationsof FGM/C: 85% of them mentioned at least one aspectrelated to the harm resulting from FGM/C.“There are many disadvantages: the woman feels nopleasure during sex, she can become barren; there mightbe infections that can lead to bad illnesses and even toAIDS.” (man of Ivorian origin)The most frequent disadvantages were sexual problems andlimitations for the woman and to some extent also for theman, as he sees himself confronted with the situation of notbeing able to satisfy the woman.“It s not good, the women have no feelings. For us inAbidjan, we consider the clitoris as the “petit policier”meaning when the man has done his job well then theclitoris is a great indicator that the woman is satisfied. Soif you cut off the clitoris, you are depriving the woman ofany sexual feelings and the man cannot know whether ornot he is pleasing the woman.” (man of Ivorian origin)“It is a bad practice as it is very important that both partnersare enjoying sex. I once met a circumcised woman60Listening to African Voices
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Cover photo: Plan/Alf Berg - “Gir
Page 9 and 10: Within the cohort of daughters of t
Page 11 and 12: • To explore the level of awarene
Page 13 and 14: 12Listening to African Voices
Page 15: • Many of them are struggling to
Page 18 and 19: 1 The interviewers approached diver
Page 20 and 21: that even close friends and people
Page 23 and 24: cies. 9 The table below displays th
Page 25 and 26: 4.7. FGM/C in Germany4.7.1. Estimat
Page 29 and 30: illegally in Hamburg. The table is
Page 31 and 32: The largest proportions of intervie
Page 33 and 34: Reactions to the research topicThe
Page 35 and 36: A small proportion of parents annou
Page 37 and 38: Germany. Some participants reported
Page 39 and 40: In order to determine the proportio
Page 41 and 42: “I am against the practice. It ha
Page 43 and 44: Table 18: Knowledge of German law a
Page 45 and 46: gin of the immigrants (see map in a
Page 47 and 48: of the Muslims believe that practic
Page 49 and 50: Table 23: Socio-demographic charact
Page 51 and 52: irth, their mothers come from Afric
Page 53 and 54: None of the participants named infe
Page 59: 5.5.5.7. Knowledge of German law an
Page 67 and 68: It was not an easy task to get the
Page 69 and 70: “As I said, for a number of pract
Page 71 and 72: “Female circumcision is and will
Page 73 and 74: Table 36: Proportion of women and m
Page 75 and 76: Table 37: Knowledge of German law a
Page 77 and 78: that FGM/C had been carried out in
Page 79 and 80: 5.7.1. Protective factorsThe findin
Page 81 and 82: 5.7.2.4. Low awareness and indiffer
Page 83 and 84: “The problem of female circumcisi
Page 85 and 86: The two remaining gynaecologists ha
Page 89 and 90: and an acceptable job, uniting the
Page 91 and 92: Daughters who were born in Africa a
Page 93 and 94: making power to protect their daugh
Page 95 and 96: challenging and requires reaching v
Page 97 and 98: • In order to encourage an attitu
Page 99 and 100: BEHAVIOR CHANGE MODEL: Abolition of
Page 101 and 102: Institut National de la Statistique
Page 103 and 104: 8.3. Question list for key informan
Page 105 and 106: 8.5. Questionnaire for quantitative
Page 107 and 108: Evaluation of girls at riskQ214 CHE
Page 109 and 110: 8.6. Questionnaire for quantitative
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Evaluation of girls at riskQ214 CHE
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8.7. Map of the geographical spread
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8.9. Map of the geographical spread
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