Escaping social rejection, gaining total capital: the complex psychological experience of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) among the Izzi in Southeast Nigeria

Reproductive Health

Olayinka Omigbodun¹  Tolulope Bella-Awusah¹  Jibril Abdulmalik¹  Akinyinka Omigbodun²  Nkechi Emma-Echiegu³  Danielle Groleau⁴  Marie-Hélène Doucet⁴ 

[1] Centre for Child & Adolescent Mental Health & Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria;Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan Nigeria, Ibadan, Nigeria;Department of Psychology and Sociological Studies, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria;Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada;Culture and Mental Health Research Unit, Lady Davis Medical Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada;

关键词: FGM/C;    Psychological experience;    Nigeria;    Global mental health;    Power;    Capital;    Habitus;    Adolescents;    McGill Illness Narrative Interview Schedule (MINI);    MGF/E;    expérience psychologique;    Nigeria;    santé mentale globale;    pouvoir;    capital;    habitus;    adolescence;    McGill Illness Narrative Interview Schedule (MINI);    M/AGF;    experiencia psicológica;    Nigeria;    salud mental global;    poder;    capital;    habitus;    adolescencia;    McGill Illness Narrative Interview Schedule (MINI);    MGF;    experiência psicológica;    Nigéria;    saúde mental global;    poder;    capital;    hábito;    adolescência;    McGill Illness Narrative Interview Schedule (MINI);   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12978-022-01348-3

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWhile the deleterious effects of FGM/C on physical health are well documented, the psychological experience of this harmful practice is a neglected area of research, which limits global mental health actions. As FGM/C was a traditional practice in some areas of Nigeria, the study aimed to understand the psychological experience of FGM/C in context.MethodsThis qualitative study was completed in urban and rural Izzi communities in Southeast Nigeria where FGM/C was widely practiced. In-depth interviews were completed with 38 women of the same ethnicity using the McGill Illness Narrative Interview (MINI) to explore the collective psychological experience of FGM/C before, during and after the procedure. The MINI was successfully adapted to explore the meaning and experience of FGM/C. We completed thematic content analysis and used the concepts of total capital and habitus by Bourdieu to interpret the data.ResultsDuring the period of adolescence, Izzi young women who had not yet undergone FGM/C reported retrospectively being subjected to intense stigma, humiliation and rejection by their cut peers. Alongside the social benefits from FGM/C the ongoing psychological suffering led many to accept or request to be cut, to end their psychological torture. Virtually all women reported symptoms of severe distress before, during and after the procedure. Some expressed the emotion of relief from knowing their psychological torture would end and that they would gain social acceptance and total capital from being cut. Newly cut young women also expressed that they looked forward to harassing and stigmatizing uncut ones, therein engaging in a complex habitus that underscores their severe trauma as well as their newly acquired enhanced social status.ConclusionFGM/C is profoundly embedded in the local culture, prevention strategies need to involve the whole community to develop preventive pathways in a participatory way that empowers girls and women while preventing the deleterious psychological effects of FGM/C and corresponding stigma. Results suggest the need to provide psychological support for girls and women of practicing Izzi communities of Southeast Nigeria.

【 授权许可】

CC BY