Understanding the roles of Alternative Rites of Passage and Public Declarations in FGM/C abandonment: An ethnographic study among the Loita Maasai, Kenya
Understanding the roles of Alternative Rites of Passage and Public Declarations in FGM/C abandonment: An ethnographic study among the Loita Maasai, Kenya
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116412
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发表时间：
2024-09-25
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Kimani，Samuel
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Van Bavel，Hannelore;Partoip，Seleyian Agnes;Kimani，Samuel
本文报道了肯尼亚西南部洛伊塔山马赛社区中女性生殖器切割/女性生殖器切割持续变化的人种学研究。该研究确定了洛伊塔维持女性生殖器切割/女性生殖器切割的个人、社会、物质和制度因素。然后研究了这些因素在非政府组织 S.A.F.E.、国家反 FGM/C 立法、学校教育和宗教的影响干预下如何变化。 S.A.F.E.的歌曲表演削弱了阻碍人们讨论女性生殖器切割/女性生殖器切割的社会禁忌；他们的替代仪式（ARP）使得放弃女性生殖器切割/切割成为可能，同时继续启动仪式的其他内容；文化领袖对 ARP 的支持使得不砍伐在文化上可以接受；该公开声明解决了有关不削减社会后果的一些担忧。反女性生殖器切割/女性生殖器切割立法将这种做法推向地下，并强化了其作为种族身份标记的含义。以学校为基础的教育改变了人们的社会经济状况，促进了女性生殖器切割/女性生殖器切割的放弃，而无需用 LRP 取而代之。新教徒洛伊泰通过宗教入会仪式来培养她们的女儿。这些影响共同导致了洛伊塔女性生殖器切割/女性生殖器切割的逐渐减少。然而，一半的社区似乎继续实行女性生殖器切割/女性生殖器切割，因为其含义超出了成年期的范围和/或因为对不切割的社会后果的持续担忧。持续努力，动态适应不断变化的社会现实，包括流行率可能回升的情况，可以支持社区走向完全遗弃的道路。
This article reports on ethnographic research on ongoing changes in FGM/C among the Maasai community of the Loita Hills, southwest Kenya. The study identified the individual, social, material, and institutional factors that sustain FGM/C in Loita. It then examined how these factors changed under the influence interventions by the nongovernmental organisation S.A.F.E., national anti-FGM/C legislation, school-based education, and religion. S.A.F.E.‘s song performances weakened the social taboo that prevented people from discussing FGM/C; their alternative rite of passage (ARP) made it possible to abandon FGM/C while continuing other elements of the initiation ceremony; the blessing of the ARP by the cultural leadership made not-cutting culturally acceptable; and the public declaration addressed some concerns around the social consequences of not-cutting. Anti-FGM/C legislation drove the practice underground and reinforced its meanings as an ethnic identity marker. School-based education changed people's socio-economic circumstances, facilitating the abandonment of FGM/C without the need to replace it with an LRP. Protestant Loitai initiated their daughters through a religious initiation rite. Together, these influence contributed to the incremental decline of FGM/C in Loita. However, half of the community seems to continue practising FGM/C, because of its meanings that go beyond initiation into adulthood and/or because of continued concerns around the social consequences of not-cutting. Sustained efforts that dynamically adapt to the ever-changing social realities, including potential resurgences in prevalence, can support the community on its path towards total abandonment.