CONTEXT AND WIDER DISCOURSES
The volume opens with an historical overview of developments in international protocols, conference declarations, conventions, and other key instruments aimed at the eradication of FGM/C, largely since the 1970s (Chapter 1, Marta Patrício). This provides important context for the chapters that follow, some of which are critical of these texts. Chapter 1 describes the major shift that has occurred over time, from seeing FGM/C primarily as a health concern to framing it as a human rights issue. Later chapters discuss the same instruments, but from different perspectives (see Fusaschi, Chapter 2; Njenga, Chapter 11, on legislation).
Michela Fusaschi offers a critical analysis, from an anthropological perspective, of the discourse around ‘harmful traditional practices’ and variations of this term. She tracks how this language developed historically, in the context of the events set out in Chapter 1, but also in the context of how the feminist movement has shaped global discourse around FGM/C. Fusaschi describes how and why tensions between feminists in the Global North and South have often come to a head in this debate.
Mark Lamont (Chapter 3) examines the interface between male and female circumcision, in historical and anthropological perspective. The chapter centres on the case of a teenage Kenyan boy who died following ‘traditional’ circumcision, and on the role of women as mothers who play important roles in their sons’ circumcisions. Lamont highlights the fact that male circumcision often involves violence against boys (and men), yet this violence is often overlooked, or even made light of, in sharp contrast to the way in which FGM/C is widely viewed. The chapter engages with scholarship that calls for consistency in examining female and male cutting practices, and argues for a more nuanced, decolonial, and ethically consistent framework. These themes are picked up in Chapters 10 (Van Bavel et al.) and 12 (Kamau).
In Chapter 4, on religion, Shannon Thomson and Sean Callaghan argue that secular NGOs in Africa have struggled to address the complexity of religiously-influenced social norms around FGM/C. They explore the correlation between religious beliefs and FGM/C prevalence, using data from twenty countries. The authors suggest that public statements by religious leaders alone are ineffective, and call for a transformational approach that involves faith leaders in disentangling religious beliefs from FGM/C.