Listening to African Voices - FPZ

that FGM/C had been carried out in their family. Half of thewomen interviewed reported to have undergone FGM/Cwhile three women said they had not. The question was notposed by the researchers to the remaining two women.The participants claimed to be parents of 18 daughters, 13 ofthem living in Germany. None of the girls living in Hamburghad undergone FGM/C, but two daughters who had grownup in Mali had been subjected to the practice. According tothe responses of the parents, none of the daughters living inHamburg was at risk.A minority of seven participants considered FGM/C to be areligious practice. The greater part of the participants (27)were informed that FGM/C was not allowed in Germanyand pronounced themselves against its continuation. Theremaining 12 persons were ambiguous about whether or notFGM/C should continue. It seemed like they accepted theidea of stopping FGM/C while living in Europe, but that theywere in favour of its continuation in their country of originand some men were quite intimidating towards the researchers.“There might be a law prohibiting female circumcisionhere, but we can still continue our traditions in Africa.”(man of Malian origin)“My sister, be careful with the interviews. Whatever yourtradition is, it is what gives you an identity. And we cannever change our traditions. Being circumcised is part ofwho you are.” (man of Malian origin)Among the women participants, there were two strongadvocates for the abandonment of the practice. The firstwoman comes from a practicing family while the secondwoman has not undergone FGM/C:“Female circumcision must be considered a crime becauseit makes a woman suffer and can make her unhappy allher life. She suffers from pain during intercourse, fromhaemorrhage after getting circumcised, and then thereare problems at delivery; 90% of obstetrical fistulaeare due to female circumcision. It can even cost lives.”(woman of Malian origin)“Female circumcision is a crime and has to be condemnedby all means and the culprits should receive the samejudgement as murderers. Their saying that female circumcisionreduces the sexual desire of the woman is notbased on reality. I have not been circumcised, but I canlive more than five years without having sexual intercourse.”(woman of Malian origin)5.6.3. TanzaniaThe community from Tanzania is only 42 head strong with anequal proportion of women and men. The FGM/C prevalencefor the country is 15%. The practice is most widespread inthe Western and Northern regions (Dodoma, Arusha, Singidaand Manyara (41-81% prevalence).We interviewed three women and four men from Tanzania,but none of them were from families in which FGM/C wasstill practiced. None of them could provide significant informationon the topic.5.6.4. Eritrea, Sudan, SomaliaThe immigrants from Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia in Hamburgare few, but have in common that they come from countrieswith FGM/C prevalence rates above 85%. We reached only16 participants from these countries as well as one keyinformant from Eritrea and one from Somalia. The educationlevel of the participants was high (an average of 15 years offormal education).All but one of the women interviewed had undergoneFGM/C. The practice had been carried out in their countryof origin by traditional practitioners. The non-circumcisedwoman was born in Germany and had never been to hercountry of origin.The participants had a total of four daughters, but none ofthem had been subjected to the practice and the parentsexpressed no intention to do so in the future.All but one participant were in favour of the abandonmentof the practice; only one man from Eritrea reported beingunsure as he considered that he did not have enough informationon the topic to make a decision.5.7. Girls at risk in HamburgThe current section aims at exploring several questions:• Is FGM/C practiced in Hamburg (and in other parts ofGermany)?• Are girls of African origin who grow up in Hamburg at riskof being subjected to FGM/C outside Germany?• What are the risk factors and protective factors (factorsthat help ensure protection) for girls from practicingfamilies?• Are girls with one European and one African parent(from a practicing family) at risk of being subjected to thepractice?76Listening to African Voices