Listening to African Voices - FPZ

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Figure 6: FGM/C prevalence in Benin per regiona negative practice that “takes away an important part ofthe woman” or that “is a brutal procedure that makes thewoman feel like a walking ghost”.About 26% of the participants, mostly from practicinggroups, perceived that FGM/C provided certain benefits,notably social recognition, better marriage prospects and increasedfaithfulness among women. There was no significantdifference in the perceptions of men and women regardingpotential benefits of the practice.5.5.8.4. FGM/C and religionthe question; the remaining 18 answered in the negative.The women had been between 0 and 8 years old when theyunderwent the practice in Benin. Two of the women couldnot remember who carried out the procedure; the otherssaid that it had been done by traditional practitioners. Thedescriptions indicated type I or type II forms.More than half of the interviewed participants had at leastone daughter, adding up to a total of 78 girls. More than halfof these girls (48) live in Hamburg with their interviewedparent. According to the responses of the parents, amongthe 78 girls, there were three daughters who had been subjectedto the practice by a traditional practitioner in Benin.One of these girls lives in Hamburg; the other two havenever been to Germany.When asked their intentions, most of the parents said thatthey didn’t want to have their daughter undergo FGM/C.However, there were four parents, two men and two women,who expressed uncertainty about whether or not to subjecttheir children to FGM/C. After a closer analysis of the fourcases, it became evident that the daughters of the twowomen might be at risk of undergoing FGM/C during futureholidays in Benin. The two mothers and their four daughterswere integrated into the follow-up project (see section3.5.1).5.5.8.3. Perceptions related to FGM/CFGM/C prevalencein Benin per regionMore than 50 %25 - 50 %less than 25 %Most participants from the South explained that FGM/Cwas not part of their culture and that they perceived it asFive women and seven men claimed to believe that FGM/Cwas a religious practice. All but one of them were Muslimsfrom practicing groups from the North (Fula, Dendi andBatouna)5.5.8.5. Perception of disadvantages and knowledge of risksand consequencesThere was considerable awareness of the harm done by FGM/Camong the participants of Beninese origin interviewed: over70% mentioned at least one negative aspect of FGM/C. Thelevel of knowledge was significantly higher among womenparticipants. The most frequently cited risks were death,infections and sexual disorders among the women.5.5.8.6. Knowledge of German law and attitudes towards theabandonment of FGM/COnly one woman from a non-practicing group asserted thatFGM/C was allowed within the German legal system. Thelarge majority (85%) is informed that FGM/C is seen as apunishable crime in German law. The remaining participantsare unsure about the position of the German legal systemtowards the practice.Furthermore, the greater part of the men and women interviewedpronounced themselves in favour of the abandonmentof the practice. A small number expressed that theywere unsure of their position and six persons – five men andone women – advocated for the continuation of the practice.Four of them come from practicing groups.5.5.9. Ethiopia5.5.9.1. Socio-demographic profileThere are 198 (registered) Ethiopian immigrants living inHamburg, 99 men and 99 women. We reached about 40%of them; more precisely 35 women and 43 men. The sociodemographiccharacteristics of the sample interviewed aredisplayed in table 33.Listening to African Voices 65
It was not an easy task to get the Ethiopian immigrants toopen up about the issue, and there is no doubt that it wouldhave been impossible to interview so many participantswithout two researchers of Ethiopian origin in the team.Many of the participants knew of an incident in southernGermany where an Ethiopian woman was accused of wantingto subject her daughter to FGM/C; they shared the way theywere exposed to stigmatising questions after the incident.“We hear that there are some Africans who go back totheir country taking their children and circumcise themand come back. We know that an Ethiopian woman inSouthern Germany was charged with having done this.But she didn’t do it and had no intention takeoff takingher daughter to be circumcised. At the time that newswas aired, a lot of Germans asked us whether we did thesame.” (members of group of women of Ethiopian origin)5.5.9.2. Proportion of immigrant population concernedAccording to the DHS conducted in 2005, three out of fourwomen in Ethiopia have undergone FGM/C. The prevalencerate is particularly high (> 85%) in the regions of Affar,Oromiya, Somali, Harari and Dire Dawa. The practice isreported to be considerably lower (< 30%) in the regions ofTigray and Gambela. The prevalence rates are about 66%in the region of the capital Addis Ababa and 69% in theAmhara region.More than half of the interviewed participants (55%)claimed to be Amhara, 17% are Oromo and 15% are affiliatedwith the group of the Tigre. The remaining 13% belongto different smaller ethnic groups.Table 33: Socio-demographic characteristics of immigrants from EthiopiaSocio-demographicvariableswomen(n = 36)men(n = 42)total sample(n = 78)Age (in years)Mean (standard deviation) 36.6 (9.3) 37.8 (11.2) 37.2 (10.3)Range 24-73 15-82 15-82Average education level (in years)Mean (standard deviation) 12.3 (3.3) 15.6 (3.9) 14.1 (4.0)Range 0-22 8-25 0-25ReligionMuslim 1 (2.8%) 2 (4.8%) 3 (3.8%)Christian 34 (94.4%) 39 (92.9%) 73 (93.6%)Traditional religion 0 (0.0%) 1 (2.4%) 1 (1.3%)None believers 1 (2.8%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (1.3%)Social statusMarried (monogamous) 20 (55.6%) 18 (42.9%) 38 (48.7%)Married (polygamous) 1 (2.8%) 2 (4.8%) 3 (3.8%)Separated/divorced/widowed 8 (22.2%) 4 (9.5%) 12 (15.4%)Never been married 22 7 (19.4%) 18 (42.9%) 25 (32.1%)Migrated from a(n)Urban area 33 (94.3%) 33 (84.6%) 66 (89.2%)Rural area 2 (5.7%) 6 (15.4%) 8 (10.8%)Residence statusUnbefristet (indefinite residence permission) 22 (61.1%) 16 (38.1%) 38 (48.7%)Befristet (temporary residence permission) 9 (25.0%) 15 (35.7%) 24 (30.8%)Duldung (toleration) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)Others/no papers/does not answer 0 (0.0%) 1 (2.4%) 1 (1.3%)German nationality 5 (13.9%) 10 (23.8%) 15 (19.2%)Time spent in Germany (in months)Mean (standard deviation) 97.4 (59.3) 123.3 (95.8) 111.3 (81.6)Range 2-288 2-360 2-36066Listening to African Voices
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Cover photo: Plan/Alf Berg - “Gir
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Within the cohort of daughters of t
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• To explore the level of awarene
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12Listening to African Voices
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