Female Genital Mutilation - World Health Organization

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FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
STUDENT MANUAL
Session 3: Strategies for involving individuals, families
and communities in the prevention of FGM
Session objectives
By the end of this session students should be able to:
1. Identify strategies for involving individuals, families and communities in the prevention of
FGM.
2. Understand the theory behind communication for behaviour change (CBC).
3. Know how to conduct discussions with various target audiences.
Key references
● Female Genital Mutilation: A Handbook for
Frontline Workers. WHO/FCH/WMH/00.5 Rev.1.
WHO, Geneva (2000).
● Female Genital Mutilation. Programmes to Date:
What Works and What Doesn’t. A Review.Geneva,
World Health Organization, 1999 (WHO/CHS/
WMH/99.5).
● WHO Film: Female Genital Mutilation - “The Road
to Change”. WHO, Geneva (2000).
Introduction
Involving individuals, families and communities in the
prevention of FGM means working with them towards
changing their beliefs, values and attitudes towards the
practice. The objective is to allow people to reach their
own conclusion that change is necessary and thus have
a sense of ownership of this decision.
Strategies for involving individuals,
families and communities in FGM
prevention
The primary objective is to encourage ownership of
any decision reached by an individual, a family, a
group, or the entire community, to change behaviour
regarding FGM.
Health professionals are respected and listened to
by individuals, families and communities and have a
major role to play in promoting education against
FGM. Some are already members of non governmental
groups working to bring about change in their
communities on the practice.
You can assist individuals, families and
communities in the process of changing their
behaviour and practice as regards FGM by:
● integrating education and counselling against FGM
into day to day nursing and midwifery practice
● identifying influential leaders and other key
individuals and groups within the community with
whom you can collaborate and could be used as
change agents
● visiting individual people or groups in the
community, as appropriate
● establishing small focus groups for discussions.
These discussions should be interactive and
participatory, allowing the people themselves to do
most of the talking
● assisting the people to think through the practice of
FGM and its effects on health and on human rights
● identifying resources within the community that
could be used in the prevention programme
● suggesting strategies for changing practice, e.g. a
culturally acceptable alternative ceremony to mark
the rite of passage (Kenya) and teaching women
problem solving skills (Tostan, Senegal)
● supporting individuals and families to cope with
the problems of FGM and with adjusting to change.