Berggren V, Musa Ahmed S, Hernlund Y, Johansson E, Habbani B, Edberg A K
Division of International Health Care Research (IHCAR), Department of Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Afr J Reprod Health. 2006 Aug;10(2):24-36.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or the more value neutral term, Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is widely practised in northern Sudan, where around 90% of women undergo the most extensive form of FGC, infibulation. One new approach to combating FGC in Sudan is to acknowledge the previously hidden form of FGC, reinfibulation (RI) after delivery, when the woman is sewn back so much as to mimic virginity. Based on a qualitative study in Khartoum State, this article explores Sudanese women's and men's perceptions and experiences of FGC with emphasis on RI after delivery. The results showed that both genders blame each other for the continuation of the practices, and the comprehensive understanding of the perceptions and experiences was that both the women and the men in this study were victims of th e consequences of FGC and RI. The female narratives could be understood in the three categories: viewing oneself as being "normal" in having undergone FGC and RI; being caught between different perspectives; and having limited influence on the practices of FGC and RI. The male narratives could be understood in the three categories: suffering from the consequences of FGC and RI, trying to counterbalance the negative sexual effects of FGC and striving in vain to change female traditions. The results indicate that the complexity of the persistence of FGC and RI goes far beyond being explained by subconscious patriarchal and maternalistic actions, related to socially constructed concepts of normality, female identity,tradition and religion a"silent" culture betweenmen and women.
女性生殖器切割（FGM），或者更中性的说法——女性生殖器切除（FGC），在苏丹北部广泛存在，约90%的女性接受了最极端的FGC形式——阴部扣锁法。苏丹对抗FGC的一种新方法是承认此前被隐藏的FGC形式，即产后重新扣锁（RI），也就是将女性缝合，使其看似恢复处女状态。基于对喀土穆州的一项定性研究，本文探讨了苏丹男女对FGC的看法和经历，重点是产后RI。结果显示，男女双方都指责对方导致这些习俗持续存在，对这些看法和经历的全面理解是，本研究中的女性和男性都是FGC和RI后果的受害者。女性的叙述可分为三类：认为自己接受FGC和RI是“正常”的；在不同观点之间左右为难；对FGC和RI的习俗影响有限。男性的叙述可分为三类：受FGC和RI后果的影响，试图抵消FGC的负面性影响，并徒劳地努力改变女性传统。结果表明，FGC和RI持续存在的复杂性远非由潜意识的父权制和母性主义行为所能解释，这些行为与社会建构的正常、女性身份、传统和宗教概念以及男女之间“沉默”的文化有关。
