This research project aims to understand how FGM/C is socially maintained, and whether it can be eliminated.
The project is funded by the British Academy, within their Heritage, Dignity and Violence programme.
Over 25 million Ethiopian women, two thirds of the female population, are thought to have experienced FGM/C. This is the second highest national number in Africa. FGM/C was made illegal in Ethiopia in 2004.
Establishing how and why FGM/C persists despite the well known health consequences has proven difficult, as being an illegal practice, people may be inclined to misreport their views or experiences.
Little is known about how FGM/C norms are socially transmitted between individuals, and how people’s attitudes towards FGM/C are influenced by the people they interact with in their community.
By combining ethnographic, social network analyses, and novel survey techniques, we address the need for more accurate data on FGM/C beliefs and how these beliefs are transmitted, which together underpin its acceptability in rural Ethiopia.
This work will reveal how FGM/C is socially maintained, and thus potentially inform eradication programmes.