Our approach
In this volume we discuss some of the key contemporary issues around FGM/C, and campaigns against it, in historical perspective. Some of our chapters present new research findings; all present fresh perspectives on FGM/C. Several textboxes are included, which explain selected key issues concisely. These, and the discussion questions in the Appendix, can be used as teaching aids.
As editors we argue that FGM/C is not ‘just’ a health and human rights issue, but is multi-faceted and intersectional. While we recognise the global public health challenge of FGM/C and the human rights implications of the practice, we equally do not see elimination as either possible or necessarily achievable without greater focus on social relations, which are embedded in communities, mediated by social institutions such as schools, medical clinics, hospitals, churches, mosques, and courtrooms. Anecdotes gathered by contributors point to a fatigue, especially among communities, following years of campaigning and research, much of it externally driven, which often overlook the incremental, community-driven changes towards abandonment that have long been happening.
Throughout the book readers will encounter different perspectives. We feel that through listening to a wide spectrum of voices, including community-based voices, we gain greater insight into the complexities and challenges associated with FGM/C. Consequently, we have given our contributors the freedom to take different approaches and defend different positions, some of which may not necessarily agree with one another. Many of these differences are explored in the previous section of this chapter, ‘Axes of Difference’.
We hope that this book will stimulate wider debate, and be of interest to scholars, students, practitioners, and policy makers alike. Indeed, we believe that the debate is enriched and advanced when people from different backgrounds, working in different spheres, respectfully share their viewpoints, knowledge, and experience. Too often, they talk past one another, if they speak at all.