Listening to African Voices - FPZ

The main part of the data indicate that the answer to thefirst question is “no”. There were only four intervieweeswho believed or had heard that FGM/C was taking place inHamburg or other parts of Germany. Three of the intervieweesreferred to the Nigerian, Somalian and Eritrean communities.The anecdotes provided open doors for speculation,but were unspecific, lacked concrete details and need furtherinvestigation:• Two sources were members of the Nigerian community:one man and one woman reported the possibility thatgirl infants of Igbo origin are subjected to the practice inHamburg (see section 5.5.3.3). These cases might includea type IV (non classified) procedure which consists of searingthe clitoris and adjacent tissue with a towel soaked inboiling water.• The other source was a gynaecologist of Eritrean originwho had heard that traditional practitioners of Eritreanand Somalian origin had been fl own to Kassel and Frankfurtto carry out FGM/C on daughters within immigrantscommunities of the two countries.• The last source was a German gynaecologist who hadheard of the existence of two traditional woman practitionersof unknown origin in Berlin.All the other African key informants were convinced thatFGM/C was not carried out in Hamburg or other parts ofGermany. Most of them were even surprised by the questionand considered it to be something that had never crossedtheir minds:“People from my country? Are they doing here? In thiscountry? I cannot imagine that. Maybe in Africa but nothere.” (man of Senegalese origin)But the nonexistence or rarity of FGM/C in Hamburg,does not exclude the possibility that girls of African originare subjected to the practice of FGM/C outside Germany.The key informants pointed out two possible approachesthat might be used by families who intend to have theirdaughters undergo FGM/C. The fi rst one was to send thedaughter back to the country of origin for a stay with theextended family.“If you would want to do it while living here, it is betterto go back to your country or to go to France and do itthere clandestinely. The European media have created astrong fear of going to a doctor here and asking for it.You would have to fear immediately repressive charges.The best solution is to go back to your country and do itthere.” (key informant of Senegalese origin)“If a family wants to circumcise a daughter, they will sendher back to Africa. They tell her that she is going to spendthe holidays in Africa, to see her grandmother, the grandfather,uncles… the extended African family. Now, if thereare cousins who have to go through the same thing, theywill make a plan on how to circumcise the girl togetherwith them. If she is of the same age as the other girls, shewill simply be obliged to go without asking her opinion.This is how things would be done!” (key informant ofIvorian origin)The second scenario was to send the girl to another Europeancountry, notably to France or Italy. Several sources confidedthat FGM/C is practiced by communities of Senegalese,Malian, Guinean and Ivorian origin in these two countries.The practicing African communities are well organised andcarry out FGM/C in total secrecy. One participant fromGuinea, for example, shared the fact that her brother hadrecently subjected his three daughters to FGM/C in Paris.Others pointed out the existence of traditional practitionersin France.“Do it here? That would be difficult. The family would goto Africa with the child or to France. In France, you canfind women who take care of that. They have learnt todo it in Mali. In Hamburg, there is no such possibility. Theperpetrators are not organised in that sense. There arenot many Africans here.” (key informant of Ivorian origin)Although the two approaches were mentioned by numerouskey informants, they also pointed out that both scenarios arerather uncommon. First of all, a considerable proportion ofimmigrants lack the financial means to take their daughtershome on holiday. But mostly, they fear that:• the act could be discovered during medical controls,examinations or treatments,• the Social Services or teachers could ask for a medicalcheck up after a stay in a home country or that• the girls could talk about the experience in school or inpresence of Germans.The conclusion among the researchers was that if a girl wassent back to Africa to undergo the practice, then she wouldprobably stay there for a longer period of time than justa holiday season. Incidentally, it is an established practiceamong African immigrants to send their children – boys andgirls alike – for a period of several years to their country oforigin to have them receive a traditional African educationand to get to know their family and culture. In the course ofthese prolonged stays, young girls from practicing familiesare evidently at risk of undergoing FGM/C. The data doesnot furnish information, however, on how common it is tosend girl children for extended stays to Africa for educationalreasons.Listening to African Voices 77