The practice of female genital mutilation is a global problem and it is prevalent in Africa. According to the United Nations Children's Education Fund (2005), each year about three million women and girls are subjected to female genital mutilation, predominantly in parts of Africa and a few Asian and Middle East countries. The situation is the same in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, where a large number of women and children have undergone and continue to undergo female genital mutilation. According to a UNICEF study, over 32% of Nigeria's female population has endured female genital mutilation and its attendant negative health and human rights consequences (UNICEF 2003: 2).Though Nigeria does not, at present, have a federal law banning female genital mutilation, the process of introducing one has been set in motion by the House of Representatives (lower house), which passed the HB22 Bill in 2007 (Deen 2008:1), which is still awaiting ratification by the Senate (Upper House) and acceptance by the Executive. However, eight out of the thirty-six states in Nigeria have passed laws prohibiting the practice of female genital mutilation (Jimoh 2005). The broad focus of this study was to explore the implementation of social regulatory policy, using the case of the implementation of female genital mutilation legislation in Nigeria. A policy analysis of social regulatory policy was investigated, with secondary studies on the implementation of female genital mutilation legislation in Nigeria. The broad issues investigated in the study include identifying the main aims and objectives of social regulatory policy; the policy instruments employed in the implementation of social regulatory policy; the implementation process of social regulatory policy; and the challenges and successes experienced by implementors in implementing social regulatory policy. The key issues the study sought to investigate include identifying the aims and objectives of female genital mutilation legislation in Nigeria; the policy instruments employed to implement female genital mutilation legislation; the implementation process of female genital mutilation legislation; and the challenges and successes experienced by implementors in implementing female genital mutilation legislation. The findings of social regulatory policy analysis showed that public participation is critical to the effective implementation of social regulatory policies, as they may encounter implementation difficulties if there is no provision for public participation during policy formulation. This in itself can give the government a better understanding of the socio-cultural issues at stake. These studies also showed that the wrong combination of policy instruments can hinder the effectiveness of social regulatory policy. Out of the varying policy instruments employed for policy implementation, government must choose the right combination of instruments that suits the intended policy outcome, in order to produce different effects. In order for social regulatory policies to be effective, implementers responsible for implementing social regulatory policy need to understand policy goals and be committed to its objectives. Adequate resources, both capital and human, must be invested in employing and training implementing agents. Finally, building and fostering networks and collaboration with civil society are critical to the successful implementation of social regulatory policies. In terms of application to this case study, the present investigation revealed that the implementation of female genital mutilation legislation in Nigeria has been difficult, and crippled with challenges, due to a number of factors that hinder effective policy outcome. These challenges are not unrelated to the fact that democracy is still nascent in Nigeria. First, there was a lack of public participation in the policy formulation process, which had negative consequences for effective implementation. Second, policymakers did not employ suitable policy instruments and this has hindered the implementation of female genital mutilation legislation. Third, a lack of common goal definition between implementing agents and policymakers has led to problems during the implementation of the policy. Other problems which have hindered the effective implementation of the policy include lack of skilled adequate resources, both capital and human, needed for the implementation of the policy. Finally, this study showed that government's failure to involve and collaborate with other actors/stakeholders through building networks with non-governmental organizations negatively affected the policy process. Building networks encourages the exchange of skills and information which can bring about effective policy implementation. The study concludes that these problems are pertinent to social regulatory policies, in general. Public participation in the policy formulation process must be encouraged, through active collaboration with civil society; employing the right policy implementation instruments and building institutional capacity (manpower) and providing adequate funding remain critical to the effective implementation of female genital mutilation legislation, not only in Nigeria, but in other places where such practices are deeply rooted in cultural beliefs. Also, for legislation to be effective, it must comprise the appropriate legal measures (that is, creating proper legal structures and legislation that will constrain and guide the behaviour of targets), regulatory measures (this involves the use of enforcement measures in order to compel the desired behavioural change) and policy measures (which encourages the participation of the targets in the policy process). / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Bakgrund: Kvinnlig könsstympning är en djupt rotad sed. Ingreppet påverkar flickors och kvinnors livsvärld genom inverkan på deras fysiska och psykiska hälsa, samt begränsar deras reproduktiva och sexuella hälsa. En bra fysisk och psykisk hälsa hos elever ökar förutsättningarna för inlärning. Det hälsofrämjande arbetet är en av skolsköterskors huvudsakliga arbetsuppgifter. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa skolsköterskors förebyggande och hälsofrämjande arbete med flickor som är eller kan komma att bli könsstympade. Resultat: Analysen från intervjuerna resulterade i fyra huvudkategorier och åtta underkategorier. Huvudkategorierna blev följande: att skapa en respektfull relation med elever, att identifiera elever som är eller kan komma att bli könsstympade beskrivs som komplext, betydelsen av kunskap och att känna trygghet i arbetet, att samverka är betydelsefullt för erfarenhetsutbyte och leder till ökad kunskap. Konklusion: Studien visar att skolsköterskorna uttrycker behov av ökad kunskap, tydliga rutiner och samverkan i arbetet att identifiera och bistå elever som är, eller kan komma att bli könsstympade. Skolsköterskorna beskriver att de har ett ansvar i att informera om kvinnlig könsstympning. För det krävs kunskap samt förutsättningar för att etablera goda relationer med elever, vårdnadshavare och övriga professioner inom skolan. / Background: Female genital mutilation is a deeply rooted custom that affects the lifeworld of women and girls by causing physical and psychological damage, and also limiting their reproductive and sexual health. A student´s good mental and physical health improves the conditions for learning. Health-promoting work is one of the main duties of a school nurse. Aim: The purpose of this study was to highlight school nurses´ preventative and healthpromoting work with girls who have undergone or are at risk of female genital mutilation. Method: A qualitative study design was chosen. Qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach was used to analyse results. Semi-structured interviewes where conducted with eight school nurses in a large city in western and in middle-sized town in mid Sweden. Results: The analyses of the interviews resulted in four main categories and eight subcategories. The main categories found were: to create a respectful relation with the pupils, identification of pupils in risk of or those already undergone female genital mutilation was found to be complex, the importance of knowledge and confidence at work, and collaboration is important in terms of exchanging experience and leads to increased knowledge. Conclusion: This study indicates a demand for greater knowledge, clear routines and collaboration in the work with identifying and assisting pupils at risk of, or who have already been exposed, to female genital mutilation. The school nurses describe that they have responsibility when it comes to information concerning female genital mutilation, which requires knowledge and prerequisites to establish a relation with pupils, caretakers and other professionals in the school environment.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a global problem that stems from gender inequality. Increased migration from countries that perform FGM to England has led to the practice travelling across borders. FGM is subject to heightened political debate and media sensitivity in the England and across the Western world. Debates about FGM often proceed from a universal standpoint that the practice should be prohibited through law. However, the efficacy of FGM legislation is questionable and rarely subjected to scrutiny. Despite implementing a criminal offence of FGM in 1985 and introducing subsequent stringent legal changes, there has not been one conviction for a practice, which remains prevalent in England. A failure to secure convictions for a practice that continues suggests that the law has left women and girls unprotected. To understand why the practice persists in a context in which FGM is criminalised, this thesis aims to address the potential and limitations of social and cultural change through the law. My qualitative research findings are based on two focus groups each with 11 women from FGM-performing communities and 79 semi-structured interviews with women and stakeholders who are responsible for designing and enforcing FGM legislation, including legal professionals, police officers, Members of Parliament and Members of the House of Lords. I chose to interview these two groups of participants to understand the different perspectives of women subject to the law and stakeholders responsible for enforcing the law. The interview data shows the importance of an intersectional analysis of FGM that accounts for women’s experiences of gender, race, ethnicity, nation, nationality and religion. While FGM is performed upon girls and women’s bodies to control their sexuality, women also identified FGM as representative of other identity issues including race, group rights, migrant culture and religion. The data highlights the complex meanings women ascribe to FGM and the challenges they encounter in accessing the criminal justice system. In contrast, stakeholders believe anti-FGM legislation is a means for the state to eliminate ‘cultural’ violence against women and girls and enforce British values upon minority groups. The findings from the interviews with women and stakeholders revealed a stark divide in the two groups understanding of FGM and their attitudes towards the law. Examining FGM in the context of criminalisation from two different perspectives highlights the core barriers to the enforcement of law.

<p>Between one hundred and one hundred and forty million young girls around the world have reportedly been subjected to some form of genital excision during 2005. Approximately three million young girls are at risk every year of undergoing this harmful procedure (WHO, 2008). Female genital mutilation is reported to occur, and is expected to continue occurring in twenty-eight African countries (London Safeguarding Children Board, 2007). This paper aims to firstly observe the levels of excision in Africa, and then highlight the underlying factors that encourage certain women to continue this dangerous ritual by analysing national datasets, such as the child info database, obtained form the United Nations Children&rsquo / s Fund. By calculating and comparing common indicators, the prevailing ones that dominate FGM appreciation can be further analysed. The final objective will be to suggest strategies that can be put in place to encourage the discontinuation of female genital cutting universally.</p>

This thesis analyzes examples of current female circumcision discourse within U.S. feminist contexts and western-based anti-circumcision projects operating in Kenya. This analysis reveals that, despite recent critiques from postcolonial scholars and activists, the knowledge produced around female circumcision perpetuates discursive and material violence against Kenyan Maasai communities. I explore how this violence has persisted in neo/colonial eras as part of the white western feminist ‘care of self’ technique of displacing female abjection through the pleasure of whiteness. I trace how these formations of race and gender have become attached to understandings of genitalia through colonial-era race science, Freudian psychoanalysis and some feminist texts from 1949-1970. I suggest that these western feminist constructions of sexual liberation rely on depicting racialized women as primitive and degenerate. Finally, I argue that these racial and gendered constructions now inform concepts of ‘developed’ versus ‘underdeveloped’ bodies and nations in contemporary international development work.

This thesis analyzes examples of current female circumcision discourse within U.S. feminist contexts and western-based anti-circumcision projects operating in Kenya. This analysis reveals that, despite recent critiques from postcolonial scholars and activists, the knowledge produced around female circumcision perpetuates discursive and material violence against Kenyan Maasai communities. I explore how this violence has persisted in neo/colonial eras as part of the white western feminist ‘care of self’ technique of displacing female abjection through the pleasure of whiteness. I trace how these formations of race and gender have become attached to understandings of genitalia through colonial-era race science, Freudian psychoanalysis and some feminist texts from 1949-1970. I suggest that these western feminist constructions of sexual liberation rely on depicting racialized women as primitive and degenerate. Finally, I argue that these racial and gendered constructions now inform concepts of ‘developed’ versus ‘underdeveloped’ bodies and nations in contemporary international development work.

<p>Between one hundred and one hundred and forty million young girls around the world have reportedly been subjected to some form of genital excision during 2005. Approximately three million young girls are at risk every year of undergoing this harmful procedure (WHO, 2008). Female genital mutilation is reported to occur, and is expected to continue occurring in twenty-eight African countries (London Safeguarding Children Board, 2007). This paper aims to firstly observe the levels of excision in Africa, and then highlight the underlying factors that encourage certain women to continue this dangerous ritual by analysing national datasets, such as the child info database, obtained form the United Nations Children&rsquo / s Fund. By calculating and comparing common indicators, the prevailing ones that dominate FGM appreciation can be further analysed. The final objective will be to suggest strategies that can be put in place to encourage the discontinuation of female genital cutting universally.</p>

This paper examines the popular philosophical theory of moral relativism. Traditionally, the theory argues that communities have their own conceptual frameworks of morality that are inaccessible to those outside of the community. Thus, one community cannot give another community a moral reason to change a practice. In this paper, I will examine David Velleman’s version of the theory presented in his book Foundations for Moral Relativism. This version posits that the drive towards mutual interpretability is a universal drive among human communities. From this drive stem all the practices and moral values of communities. However, Velleman does not believe that this implies that communities can understand each others’ conceptual frameworks. In this way, his account remains a normal version of moral relativism. I will argue that there are some cases in which a person can understand a different community’s conceptual framework enough to provide a reason for that community to change a practice. Importantly, my argument will not say that the reasons for change are moral reasons. They will be practical reasons based on the normative fact that human communities should strive towards mutual interpretability. Thus, my account will also maintain the crucial tenets of moral relativism. If accomplished, this argument will add a great power to the theory.

Female genital mutilation, or FGM, is a harmful traditional practice that was brought to Europe by immigrants from practising regions in Africa. Despite numerous approaches to the eradication of FGM, the tradition perpetuates within the immigrant communities in several European countries. Drawing on the available literature, film and interviews, this thesis presents a comparison of the French and Dutch strategies to tackling the problem of FGM. The thesis argues that the Dutch preventative approach could benefit from adopting particular features of the French punitive approach. The thesis concludes by proposing that strong legislative measures that apply to the discovery, investigation and prosecution of FGM cases have contributed significantly to the decline of FGM among practising communities in France, and as such, would have similar results if incorporated into the Dutch strategy for the eradication of FGM.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Uppsala University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-311).