Document Type

Article

Department

Population Health (East Africa)

Abstract

Background: Health education is among the prominent forms of interventions that are used to advocate for eradication of the practice of FGM. However, little is known on affected communities’ actual experiences, knowledge and perceptions on these health education messages hence need for this study.

Objective: To understand Abagusii people’s knowledge, experiences and perceptions on the health consequences of FGM.

Methods: Data was collected from Abagusii community of Kisii County in Kenya using interview schedules, focus group discussions, key informants and document analysis. The collected data were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed using SPSS and MAXQDA programs

Results: All female respondents interviewed reported that it is clitoridectomy (Partial or complete removal of the clitoris) that was performed on them and 86% of these operations were conducted by health practitioners. The majority of the respondents (82%) are aware that FGM can cause health complications to the initiate. The health effects they are informed of include: bleeding (63%), impaired sexuality (36%) psychological trauma (35%) pain (34%), problems when giving birth (29%) and infections (23%).Only less than half (42%) of the circumcised women have ever experienced health effects of FGM. Bleeding was the most experienced side effect (30%), followed by pain (28), impaired sexuality (9%), psychological trauma (2%) and obstetric complications (still births, miscarriages or barrenness) (2%). None of the circumcised woman reported scarring, keloid growths, infections or painful sexual penetration. These complications experienced by these women were associated with evil people, lack of adherence to FGM rituals and other cultural symbolic meanings that are contrary to health education messages.

Conclusion: While many people were aware of the health consequences of FGM, very few women actually experienced the purported the health consequences especially the long-term effects. Therefore, campaigning against FGM on the basis of these health effects leaves people indifferent and suspicious because, this information is not supported by their everyday lived experiences. On the other hand, ant-FGM efforts should zero in on perceptions and socio-symbolic meaning of these health effects rather than concentrating on awareness creation of the health consequences.

Comments

This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University

Publication (Name of Journal)

International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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