Listening to African Voices - FPZ

higher than the prevalence rate for the country. Furthermore,we identified several girl children who had either undergoneFGM/C or were at risk of being subjected to the practice.There is a great need to identify persons in favour of theabolition of FGM/C among immigrants from the North whoare motivated to raise awareness among their people.6.6.10. EthiopiaThe Ethiopian community members interviewed had relativelyhigh levels of education and integration. The findings indicatedthat Ethiopians showed a strong willingness to leavethe tradition of FGM/C behind in the context of migration.Although many of the adult women have undergone FGM/C– mostly during infancy – in Ethiopia, they don’t have anyinterest in subjecting their daughters growing up in Germanyto the practice. A religious leader made the following statementwhich summarises suitably the findings of this study:“If we speak of the parents, I think most of them mighthave gone through the practice themselves. But I don’tthink that they are in favour of FGM being practiced ontheir daughters. I have never ever heard of an Ethiopianhere or anywhere in Germany who let their daughter becircumcised. Of course, I recently heard a report throughthe Deutsche Welle that a certain Ethiopian family wasintending to go home to circumcise their daughter. Andit was proved to be a false accusation. So my conclusionis that Ethiopians living in Hamburg are not in favour ofFGM and don’t want to see it practiced on their daughters.But that doesn’t mean that the parents are notcircumcised. I am sure a lot of them were circumcisedwhile they were babies. (39-year-old religious leader andkey informant of Ethiopian origin)6.6.11. Burkina FasoGirls and women arriving in Hamburg from Burkina Faso arelikely to have undergone FGM/C. The immigrant communityof Burkina Faso is relatively well aware of the risks and consequencesof FGM/C and the greater part speaks out for theabandonment of the practice. It is not of importance to themto maintain the tradition of FGM/C while living in Germany.One of the researchers of Burkinabe origin concluded, “Itwould not even cross their minds; they have other issues todeal with.” Nonetheless, there is a minority of men who arguesfirmly for the need to continue FGM/C so as to preventBurkinabe women from becoming promiscuous.6.6.12. GuineaThe topic of FGM/C is very difficult to address with membersof the Guinean community. Most of the participantsexpressed either indifference or strong negative reactionswhen asked about their perceptions of FGM/C. Althoughthe greater part said that they wanted the practice to bestopped, there were no strong voices advocating particularactions. The findings indicated that almost all Guineanwomen in Hamburg had undergone FGM/C. Among thedaughters of the parents interviewed, 15 girls had alreadyundergone FGM/C in Guinea and five girls were estimatedto be at risk of being subjected to the practice in the future.The number of Guinean girl children living in Hamburgseems to be considerably higher than the 10 girls officiallyregistered.6.6.13. SenegalThe interviewed sample was too small to draw conclusionsabout the Senegalese community in Hamburg. Thedata indicates that a solid proportion of the immigrants isfrom practicing families for whom FGM/C is a cultural andsometimes religious practice that initiates the women intothe adult society of their ethnic group. Further research isrecommended to establish a more representative assessmentof the Senegalese immigrant community.6.6.14. NigerThe immigrant population of Niger is very small and veryfew participants have roots in practicing groups. There wereno indicators for women and girls concerned, although theexistence of isolated cases cannot be excluded.6.6.15. MaliThe findings reveal that there is a small but significant proportionof conservative traditionalists in the Malian immigrantcommunity who consider FGM/C to be a tradition topreserve. Most women immigrants from Mali have undergoneFGM/C. There is no evidence, however, that supportersof the practice would go as far as to subject their daughtersgrowing up in Germany to FGM/C. Further studies are recommendedto explore the practices of the Malian immigrantcommunity regarding FGM/C in Hamburg.6.6.16. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea BissauWe only reached a handful of immigrants from Sierra Leone,Liberia and Guinea Bissau. As the prevalence rates of thethree countries are moderate to high, we recommend conductingfurther research with the immigrant communities ofthese three countries.6.6.17. TanzaniaThere are only 42 Tanzanians registered in Hamburg. Gatheringdata from such a small community is methodologicallyListening to African Voices 93