Genre et commerce

This Country Profile on FGM in Sudan mostly uses data taken from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 2014 (MICS 2014)8 and the Sudan Household Health Survey of 2010 (SHHS 2010)9. A further valuable source of information on FGM in Sudan is the report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) andChild Marriage in Sudan – Are There Any Changes Taking Place??? (the Secondary Analysis).10 The most recent measurement of FGM prevalence across Sudan is from the MICS 2014, which found that 86.6% of women aged 15–49 have undergone some form of FGM.11 This places the country in UNICEF’s ‘very high prevalence’ category.12 More than 12 million women and girls are believed to have undergone some form of FGM.13

This document was prepared by Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights and its authors with support from the Karama network for the 77th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

This thesis is a multi-sited investigation of the campaign against excision in urban Mali and of the responses to it. Fieldwork took place in 1997-1998 through feminist action-research with a local women's association that carried out programs against excision. Part I situates the historical, structural and cultural contexts within which excision practices take place, focusing on the two largest ethnic groupings in the areas under study: the Fulbe and the Mande. Key Mande and Fulbe structural hierarchies are discussed, namely gender, age, class, and caste. In Mali, circumcisers have historically come from specific castes of artisans, in particular the Mande 'nùmuw' ("blacksmiths"). However today non-'nùmu' health practitioners also perform circumcisions. A review of the ethnographic literature on excision in Mali reveals that for most Mande groups the practice has been constructed as a rite of passage. Other hegemonic constructs that present clitoridectomy as a form of ritual purification and female sexuality as dangerous are also present, and help to explain how the practice comes to be part of 'common-sense' (in the Gramscian sense). Concepts borrowed from the sociology of knowledge are used in Part II to analyze the campaign against excision and responses to it. The discourses, fields of knowledge and practices of four competing categories of "experts" with regards to excision are presented: feminists, state agents, ' nùmu' women, and Muslim leaders. An ethnographic examination of the Malian campaign against excision reveals that it is led by the educated elite, and sustained by global currents of ideas and capital. The opinions of those targeted by the campaigns (obtained through a survey of 300 men and women) are presented next, as well as the motivations and difficulties of those among them who seek to become 'well-informed' on excision. I conclude that the debates on excision in Mali reflect broader societal changes and ideological struggles concerning the future of the caste system, the role of the state, secularism, 'traditional' health care, female sexuality, the power of elders, modernity and individualism. I also draw implications of the findings for campaigners and their supporters, and reflect on the challenges of cross-cultural feminist solidarity.

These guidelines are intended primarily for health-care professionals involved in the care of girls and women who have been subjected to any form of female genital mutilation (FGM). This document also provides guidance for policy-makers, health-care managers and others in charge of planning, developing and implementing national and local health-care protocols and policies. The information contained in this document will also be useful for designing job aids and pre- and in-service professional training curricula in the areas of medicine, nursing, midwifery and public health for health-care providers caring for girls and women living with FGM.

This Interagency Statement is written and signed by a wider group of United Nations agencies than the previous one, to support advocacy for the abandonment of female genital mutilation. It is based on new evidence and lessons learnt over the past decade. It highlights the wide recognition of the human rights and legal dimensions of the problem and provides current data on the prevalence of female genital mutilation. It summarizes findings from research on the reasons why the practice continues, highlighting that the practice is a social convention which can only be changed through coordinated collective action by practising communities. It also summarizes recent research on its damaging effects on the health of women, girls and newborn babies. Drawing on experience from interventions in many countries, the new statement describes the elements needed, for both working towards complete abandonment of female genital mutilation, and caring for those who have suffered, and continue to suffer, from its consequences.