%0 Journal Article
%T Internalizing Knowledge and Changing Attitudes to Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation
%A Inger-Lise Lien
%A Jon-H£¿kon Schultz
%J Obstetrics and Gynecology International
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/467028
%X The process of paradigmatic attitudinal change has been analyzed by the use of multimethods and multileveled internalization theories. Forty-six informants (a network of activists and a group of Gambian women) have described their change of attitude to female genital cutting. This study shows that internalizing a packet of information as adults, that contradicts an old schema of knowledge internalized as children, can be experienced as epistemologically very painful. Activists in Norway who have changed their attitude to FGC have got information from different educational institutions, from seminars and conferences, from work as interpreters in hospitals, and from discussions among families and friends. Information can be received, listened to and subsequently discarded. In order to design FGC-abandonment campaigns, the importance of the internalization process in order for the individual to make an attitudinal change must be understood. 1. Changing Attitudes to FGC Female genital cutting (FGC), also called female genital mutilation (FGM) and circumcision, takes many forms, from milder to more serious procedures. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has divided these into four types [1]. (1) Clitoridectomy involves partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce. (2) Excision involves partial or total removal of the labia minora and/or the labia majora. (3) Infibulation involves narrowing the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal with or without removal of the clitoris. (4) Others involve all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for nonmedical purposes. The procedure are mostly done on girls from infancy to 15 years of age. In many countries girls are being cut at earlier ages than before [2]. Internationally FGC is recognized as a violation of human rights as it can have serious short- and long-term effects on the heatlh and well-being of girls and women. In spite of many abandonment campaigns through years, it has proved difficult to abolish the practice [3]. There has been ¡°greater success in raising awareness about the issue,¡± Shell-Duncan and Hernlund [4] say, ¡°than in changing behavior.¡± Medicalizing the procedure by having it done in a hospital by health professionals was intended to alleviate some of the pain related to FGC, but it may have encouraged the practice instead of abolishing it [5]. A systematic review of the effectiveness of FGC prevention interventions [6] evaluated interventions [7¨C11] that ranged in length from two hours to two years. The review concluded that the evidence within such
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ogi/2013/467028/