Books & Chapters by Hilary Burrage ~ orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-2740
Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation: A UK Perspective (Ashgate/Routledge, London, 2015), 2016
This post, written in 2016, a year after publication of my book 'Eradicating Female Genital Mutil... more This post, written in 2016, a year after publication of my book 'Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation', reports on its detailed contents and on the reviews it has received.
The publisher provided the following resume of the book at publication:
This ground-breaking handbook details the present situation with regard to female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain, referring also to other Western nations where FGM occurs. It scrutinises current pathways to eradicating this dangerous, sometimes lethal, form of child abuse and gender-related violence. The cultural and belief systems giving rise to FGM are complex. Further, FGM is an intensely intimate matter often imposed on young and vulnerable children. Approaches to its eradication therefore demand considerable human insight and a competent grasp of inter-/cross-agency working. It is also vital that everyone concerned - whether in caring and parental, safeguarding or other roles - understands fully that, regardless of custom or belief, FGM is a serious crime....
The book also covers the past century of action against FGM globally, as well as examining many instances of how FGM issues are attended to in many parts of the world.
CONTENTS and PREVIEW: https://www.routledge.com/Eradicating-Female-Genital-Mutilation-A-UK-Perspective/Burrage/p/book/9781472419941
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Female Mutilation: The truth behind the horrifying global practice of female genital mutilation, 2016
Female Mutilation: The truth behind the horrifying global practice of female genital mutilation (... more Female Mutilation: The truth behind the horrifying global practice of female genital mutilation (New Holland Publishers, 2016) comprises 70+ ‘narratives’ from survivors, family and community members, activists and professionals in two dozen countries, five continents, also with an accompanying website to bring all the contributors together, and a Twitter handle [book available from Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com, or high street booksellers].
ISBN-10 : 1742576079
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BOOK: Routledge International Handbook of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health , 2019
The Routledge International Handbook of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health is the authoritati... more The Routledge International Handbook of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health is the authoritative reference work on important, leading-edge developments in the domains of women’s sexual and reproductive health.
The handbook adopts a life-cycle approach to examine key milestones and events in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Contributors drawn from a range of disciplines, including psychology, medicine, nursing and midwifery, sociology, public health, women’s studies, and indigenous studies, explore issues through three main lenses:
the biopsychosocial model
feminist perspectives
international, multidisciplinary perspectives that acknowledge the intersection of identities in women’s lives.
The handbook presents an authoritative review of the field, with a focus on state-of-the-art work, encouraging future research and policy development in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Finally, the handbook will inform health care providers about the latest research and clinical developments, including women’s experiences of both normal and abnormal sexual and reproductive functions.
Drawing upon international expertise from leading academics and clinicians in the field, this is essential reading for scholars and students interested in women’s reproductive health.
~~~~
ABSTRACT, CHAPTER 33: Female Genital Mutilation and Genital Surgeries, by Hilary Burrage
Female genitals have been a source of fascination and fear throughout history. Patriarchal control of women by suturing their genitals has occurred over thousands of years, and still these practices – female genital mutilation – continue in communities of many types around the world. The personal, social and economic damage inflicted by FGM is enormous, with probably around three million girls and women affected every year. FGM is therefore a public health epidemic of the highest order.
This chapter considers many aspects of FGM, from immediate and longer-term physical and psychological health impacts for those who undergo FGM and their families, to modes of treatment and prevention in traditional settings and in modern urban environments. Issues addressed include medicalization, the questions raised by male circumcision and the vocabularies employed in discussion of FGM. Comparisons of FGM with contemporary surgical practices, such as female genital cosmetic surgeries, and paediatric sex assignment and later disorders of sex development, are also explored from the perspectives of the individuals concerned, their families and contexts, and their clinicians. Finally, a central emphasis is placed on eradication; if people stopped doing it, FGM would stop. Public health initiatives and education are as essential as enforcement of the law.
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A House With Open Door , 2021
We in the English-speaking parts of the world may be aware that life is different in various ways... more We in the English-speaking parts of the world may be aware that life is different in various ways beyond our experience, but little is known by most of us about how family and domestic matters are conducted in the Middle East. I was the adviser and editor for the English language version of A House with Open Door, a book about ‘informal’ or ‘white’ marriage, written by the British-Iranian anthropologist Kameel Ahmady.
In my editorial capacity I learned a lot about a culture and customs very different from my own, where the focus is on upholding what are considered to be Shi’a Islamic constraints and requirements in regard to marriage.
Below is the Foreword I wrote for that book.
ISBN: 978-1-914165-21-41
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BOOK: In the Name of Tradition: Female Genital Mutilation in Iran (2016), Kameel Ahmady, 2016
KAMEEL AHMADY writes: Although efforts to eradicate a thousand-year-old custom are challenged by ... more KAMEEL AHMADY writes: Although efforts to eradicate a thousand-year-old custom are challenged by the very tenacity – and increasingly recognized ubiquity – of the practice, Female Genital Mutilation is an issue of urgency to feminists, human rights campaigners and social activists as well as international organizations such as UNICEF and many responsible governments determined to end it. I join them. ... This research [began] when I returned from Europe after a prolonged absence to my birthplace, Iranian Kurdistan, to learn more about FGM. For several years I had worked in Africa with humanitarian relief NGOs and observed UN projects to combat excision in countries like Egypt, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan. Remembering hushed tones from my childhood suggesting that FGM -- locally called sunnet -- existed in some parts of Iranian Kurdistan, I decided to conduct some preliminary research beginning with my own family and close relatives. Imagine my shock when uncovering evidence that FGM had long existed in areas of Mukriyan and that my grandmothers, mother and sister had all endured it. In fact, within Iran, a heavy omerta hangs over the practice. Only a limited number of people from non-FGM-practicing provinces know of its concentration within some regions of the country. Being male and having a ‘non-traditional’ background in the sense that I lived abroad, my detailed questions about this extremely sensitive topic—the cutting of women’s ‘private parts’— created resistance and bewilderment. Some local residents, especially men, refused to take me seriously, while others, including a number of my own relatives, opined that this subject was unworthy of an educated male’s attention. Researching FGM was deemed not a “manly” job. Here I would like to thank my late father who, despite the pressure of neighbors’ viewpoints and from time to time also the government’s, supported me throughout.
The scope of the project gradually extended into regions of Iran beyond my home, and in this journey, I enjoyed assistance in fieldwork as well as in analysis and assembly of data.
While focused most sharply on FGM-affected areas in the western part of the country, namely West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, and some areas in southern Iran, that is, Hormozgan province and its islands, you will find a comprehensive overview of the custom’s prevalence throughout the entire country. (A 2017 unedited update is available electronically at http://kameelahmady.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/THE-CHANGING-PARADIGMS-OF-FGMC-WEB.pdf.)
ISBN-10 : 398138637X
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BOOK: Sociology Reviewed , 1993
I studied the natural sciences in the late 1960s before ‘defecting’ to Sociology, where my origi... more I studied the natural sciences in the late 1960s before ‘defecting’ to Sociology, where my original degree was in Social Science (Sociology, Psychology, Economics, Statistics etc) and my Master’s was in the Sociology of Science and Technology.
I was fascinated by it all: how research is chosen, funded and develops, and how ‘theories’ are constructed, both by real human beings via conscious and cultural choices . It was therefore a pleasure in 1993 to respond when the editors of 'Sociology Reviewed' invited me to write about ‘The Sociology of Science and the Science of Society’ for their book.
And 25 years later, overall the same general observations still apply…
So below is the piece I wrote for 'Sociology Reviewed', in which I tease out how the natural and social sciences have much in common, both being shaped by the curiosities, available resourcing, investigatory skills and eventually negotiated paradigms of the people who develop any particular subject focus. Eternal ‘truths’ are a matter of individual belief, not science; but shared understandings based on tested and established evidence – even though what comprises accepted evidence, and the subsequent understandings (paradigms), may change over time – can take us a long way towards meaningful insights into the natural and social worlds in which we all live.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
'Sociology Reviewed' brings together edited versions of the best articles which have appeared in "Social Studies Review" and "Sociology Review" in recent years. Aimed at A and AS Level students, it includes coverage of every area of the A/AS level syllabus.
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BOOK: The New Social Curriculum: A Guide to Cross-curricular Issues ASIN: B00SLV3DCC , 1990
Have we moved on in the three decades since Barry Dufour as editor published The New Social Curri... more Have we moved on in the three decades since Barry Dufour as editor published The New Social Curriculum: A Guide To Cross-Curricular Issues? The book, published by Cambridge University Press in 1990, was then a fairly ground-breaking initiative to bring together various aspects of the school curriculum which might otherwise have been ‘squeezed out’ by the introduction of the English National Curriculum in 1987-9.
As his helpful Introduction to the book (pp. vii-ix) explains, Prof Dufour offered ways to incorporate via a cross-curricular approach several aspects of subject learning which many of us regard as essential, but were not then accorded by the Government the statutory requirement of ‘core’ delivery.
My task was to propose such incorporation for Health Education, an particularly delicate aspect of any school’s curriculum both because it is dependent on the knowledge, skills and willingness of teachers to deliver, and because it embraces such thorny issues as drugs and ‘sex education’, the latter set at that time in the context of ‘Section 28‘ (homosexuality, AIDS – and the related unarticulated suicidal fears of and for some young men) along with the moral panic about ‘teenage pregnancy’. (An aside: the ‘Gillick competence‘ test had only recently been established, perhaps ironically after Victoria Gillick unsuccessfully challenged any provision of contraception advice to under-16s. The Gillick consent concept as applying to a range of largely health and medical provisions – including in 2021 Covid-19 vaccinations in English schools – was not yet fully established when Barry Dufour’s book was published.)
Below is what I wrote as Chapter 4 of The New Social Curriculum.
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Papers by Hilary Burrage ~ orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-2740
Journal of the institute of health education, 1986
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Social Studies of Science, Feb 1, 1983
A study of women university teachers of natural science in England and Wales was undertaken, by m... more A study of women university teachers of natural science in England and Wales was undertaken, by mail questionnaire, during the academic year 1971-72. It was designed to examine women scientists' preference for the life sciences, and to test the hypothesis that they tend to have atypical family and educational backgrounds. The findings support the primary hypothesis that certain social and educational factors may pre-dispose women to become scientists, despite the wider consensus that science is a `masculine' field. Respondents were often found to have those familial features generally associated with high-ranking men, to be related to other older scientists, and to have been to single-sex schools. One third were unmarried, and a further third had no children. A secondary hypothesis, in terms of nurturance and role-consonance, to explain women scientists' preference for biological disciplines, was not confirmed. This Note presents the survey data. A bibliography is added to facilitate an understanding of the wider context and relevance of the data.
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Social Science & Medicine, 1987
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Left History, Feb 10, 2019
Maria Frederika Malmström, The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt: Gender, Sexuality and th... more Maria Frederika Malmström, The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt: Gender, Sexuality and the Construction of Identity (London and New York: I.B. Taurus Press, 2016).Heidi Morrison, Childhood and Colonial Modernity in Egypt (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).Nefissa Naguib, Nurturing Masculinities: Men, Food and Family in Contemporary Egypt (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015).
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Journal of Further and Higher Education, Sep 1, 1990
Les AA. tentent de déterminer comment le stress est conceptualisé dans le cadre du perfectionneme... more Les AA. tentent de déterminer comment le stress est conceptualisé dans le cadre du perfectionnement des enseignants, et présentent un compte rendu sur la vie de l'institution comme source de stress, telle qu'elle est perçue par l'enseignant
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Gender and Education, 1991
Abstract This paper examines the relationship between curriculum and assessment in respect of gen... more Abstract This paper examines the relationship between curriculum and assessment in respect of gender, focusing largely on ages 14‐16+. Discussion concerns specifically those gender issues arising from the current trend towards vocationalism and from the intention, ...
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Journal of Further and Higher Education, Sep 1, 1989
... teachers. JFHE 13 (3), AUTUMN 1989 Page 4. WALTRAUD BOXALL and HILARY BURRAGE 33 (3) The ... ... more ... teachers. JFHE 13 (3), AUTUMN 1989 Page 4. WALTRAUD BOXALL and HILARY BURRAGE 33 (3) The ... educational improvement'. (William Taylor, 'Innovation without growth', p. 120, in Challenge and Change in the Curriculum, eds. Tim ...
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Maria Frederika Malmström, The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt: Gender, Sexuality and th... more Maria Frederika Malmström, The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt: Gender, Sexuality and the Construction of Identity (London and New York: I.B. Taurus Press, 2016).Heidi Morrison, Childhood and Colonial Modernity in Egypt (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).Nefissa Naguib, Nurturing Masculinities: Men, Food and Family in Contemporary Egypt (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015).
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Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Sep 1, 2011
This paper proposes a possible framework to examine ideas about public space in relation to cultu... more This paper proposes a possible framework to examine ideas about public space in relation to culture, knowledge, community engagement and inclusion. It does not seek to challenge current ideas about the sustainable development of public space but rather to offer some additional and interlinked perspectives arising from wider debates on the importance of culture and knowledge in resilience, engagement, community cohesion and sense of place. Green space can be an agent for social cohesion and the sustainable development and inter-connectedness of communities. The shift required to achieve this is to perceive green space not just as a benign and pleasant passive context but as a potentially proactive force for community sustainability, cohesion and engagement, and wider social inclusion – to move from conventional ideas about green ‘space’ to the more nuanced idea of green ‘hubs’ as one way to enhance communities' wellbeing through genuine stakeholder engagement and inclusion. How this shift might be achieved is a complex matter, comprising a combination of skilled professional input and the particular insights that only residents and citizens ‘on the ground’ can provide in any given instance.
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February 6 is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Begun twenty year... more February 6 is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Begun twenty years ago today (2023), the Zero Tolerance initiative has seen considerable success. But much remains to be done. One major issue is that other forms of elective genital surgery / 'cutting' continue unimpeded: male circumcision, genital cosmetic surgery and transgender surgeries are widely accepted, even in some cases for minors unavoidably unable to give informed consent. This is a major problem for #EndFGM. Consent We are already aware that FGM is a practice where the consent of the girl or woman to receive it is usually far from central to decisions about when and how. It is generally an imposed tradition, enforced rather than consensual. It is also routine in parts of the world ranging from Africa to North America to the Middle East and Asia to 'circumcise' a male baby, small boy or young teenager. All these instances can be seen as influenced by notions of patriarchy.
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Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation, 2015
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EC Gynaecology 11.10 (2022): 51-56., 2022
In this piece, written for the journal EC Gynaecology and primarily as a ‘conversation’ with obst... more In this piece, written for the journal EC Gynaecology and primarily as a ‘conversation’ with obstetric and gynaecological clinicians whether in the ‘developed’ or the ‘developing’ world, I seek to
• Create connections between the clinical treatment/care of women and girls with female genital (‘sexual’) mutilation (FGM) and various of the environments in which the practice continues;
• Establish that two themes – economics and patriarchy – are critical to a full understanding of this harmful practice; and
• Explore ways in which colleague support across disciplinary boundaries, along with a willingness to try new approaches to the problem, may help to enable a Public Health framework leading to the eradication of FGM.
I also note in the above contexts some of the personal discomforts and very different circumstances which various professionals, amongst them clinicians, may experience as they move towards a wider perspective on FGM; and I explore, in anticipation I hope of further discussion, possible ways forward to resolve these valid potential challenges or problems.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
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Books & Chapters by Hilary Burrage ~ orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-2740
The publisher provided the following resume of the book at publication:
This ground-breaking handbook details the present situation with regard to female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain, referring also to other Western nations where FGM occurs. It scrutinises current pathways to eradicating this dangerous, sometimes lethal, form of child abuse and gender-related violence. The cultural and belief systems giving rise to FGM are complex. Further, FGM is an intensely intimate matter often imposed on young and vulnerable children. Approaches to its eradication therefore demand considerable human insight and a competent grasp of inter-/cross-agency working. It is also vital that everyone concerned - whether in caring and parental, safeguarding or other roles - understands fully that, regardless of custom or belief, FGM is a serious crime....
The book also covers the past century of action against FGM globally, as well as examining many instances of how FGM issues are attended to in many parts of the world.
CONTENTS and PREVIEW: https://www.routledge.com/Eradicating-Female-Genital-Mutilation-A-UK-Perspective/Burrage/p/book/9781472419941
ISBN-10 : 1742576079
The handbook adopts a life-cycle approach to examine key milestones and events in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Contributors drawn from a range of disciplines, including psychology, medicine, nursing and midwifery, sociology, public health, women’s studies, and indigenous studies, explore issues through three main lenses:
the biopsychosocial model
feminist perspectives
international, multidisciplinary perspectives that acknowledge the intersection of identities in women’s lives.
The handbook presents an authoritative review of the field, with a focus on state-of-the-art work, encouraging future research and policy development in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Finally, the handbook will inform health care providers about the latest research and clinical developments, including women’s experiences of both normal and abnormal sexual and reproductive functions.
Drawing upon international expertise from leading academics and clinicians in the field, this is essential reading for scholars and students interested in women’s reproductive health.
~~~~
ABSTRACT, CHAPTER 33: Female Genital Mutilation and Genital Surgeries, by Hilary Burrage
Female genitals have been a source of fascination and fear throughout history. Patriarchal control of women by suturing their genitals has occurred over thousands of years, and still these practices – female genital mutilation – continue in communities of many types around the world. The personal, social and economic damage inflicted by FGM is enormous, with probably around three million girls and women affected every year. FGM is therefore a public health epidemic of the highest order.
This chapter considers many aspects of FGM, from immediate and longer-term physical and psychological health impacts for those who undergo FGM and their families, to modes of treatment and prevention in traditional settings and in modern urban environments. Issues addressed include medicalization, the questions raised by male circumcision and the vocabularies employed in discussion of FGM. Comparisons of FGM with contemporary surgical practices, such as female genital cosmetic surgeries, and paediatric sex assignment and later disorders of sex development, are also explored from the perspectives of the individuals concerned, their families and contexts, and their clinicians. Finally, a central emphasis is placed on eradication; if people stopped doing it, FGM would stop. Public health initiatives and education are as essential as enforcement of the law.
In my editorial capacity I learned a lot about a culture and customs very different from my own, where the focus is on upholding what are considered to be Shi’a Islamic constraints and requirements in regard to marriage.
Below is the Foreword I wrote for that book.
ISBN: 978-1-914165-21-41
The scope of the project gradually extended into regions of Iran beyond my home, and in this journey, I enjoyed assistance in fieldwork as well as in analysis and assembly of data.
While focused most sharply on FGM-affected areas in the western part of the country, namely West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, and some areas in southern Iran, that is, Hormozgan province and its islands, you will find a comprehensive overview of the custom’s prevalence throughout the entire country. (A 2017 unedited update is available electronically at http://kameelahmady.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/THE-CHANGING-PARADIGMS-OF-FGMC-WEB.pdf.)
ISBN-10 : 398138637X
I was fascinated by it all: how research is chosen, funded and develops, and how ‘theories’ are constructed, both by real human beings via conscious and cultural choices . It was therefore a pleasure in 1993 to respond when the editors of 'Sociology Reviewed' invited me to write about ‘The Sociology of Science and the Science of Society’ for their book.
And 25 years later, overall the same general observations still apply…
So below is the piece I wrote for 'Sociology Reviewed', in which I tease out how the natural and social sciences have much in common, both being shaped by the curiosities, available resourcing, investigatory skills and eventually negotiated paradigms of the people who develop any particular subject focus. Eternal ‘truths’ are a matter of individual belief, not science; but shared understandings based on tested and established evidence – even though what comprises accepted evidence, and the subsequent understandings (paradigms), may change over time – can take us a long way towards meaningful insights into the natural and social worlds in which we all live.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
'Sociology Reviewed' brings together edited versions of the best articles which have appeared in "Social Studies Review" and "Sociology Review" in recent years. Aimed at A and AS Level students, it includes coverage of every area of the A/AS level syllabus.
As his helpful Introduction to the book (pp. vii-ix) explains, Prof Dufour offered ways to incorporate via a cross-curricular approach several aspects of subject learning which many of us regard as essential, but were not then accorded by the Government the statutory requirement of ‘core’ delivery.
My task was to propose such incorporation for Health Education, an particularly delicate aspect of any school’s curriculum both because it is dependent on the knowledge, skills and willingness of teachers to deliver, and because it embraces such thorny issues as drugs and ‘sex education’, the latter set at that time in the context of ‘Section 28‘ (homosexuality, AIDS – and the related unarticulated suicidal fears of and for some young men) along with the moral panic about ‘teenage pregnancy’. (An aside: the ‘Gillick competence‘ test had only recently been established, perhaps ironically after Victoria Gillick unsuccessfully challenged any provision of contraception advice to under-16s. The Gillick consent concept as applying to a range of largely health and medical provisions – including in 2021 Covid-19 vaccinations in English schools – was not yet fully established when Barry Dufour’s book was published.)
Below is what I wrote as Chapter 4 of The New Social Curriculum.
Papers by Hilary Burrage ~ orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-2740
• Create connections between the clinical treatment/care of women and girls with female genital (‘sexual’) mutilation (FGM) and various of the environments in which the practice continues;
• Establish that two themes – economics and patriarchy – are critical to a full understanding of this harmful practice; and
• Explore ways in which colleague support across disciplinary boundaries, along with a willingness to try new approaches to the problem, may help to enable a Public Health framework leading to the eradication of FGM.
I also note in the above contexts some of the personal discomforts and very different circumstances which various professionals, amongst them clinicians, may experience as they move towards a wider perspective on FGM; and I explore, in anticipation I hope of further discussion, possible ways forward to resolve these valid potential challenges or problems.
The publisher provided the following resume of the book at publication:
This ground-breaking handbook details the present situation with regard to female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain, referring also to other Western nations where FGM occurs. It scrutinises current pathways to eradicating this dangerous, sometimes lethal, form of child abuse and gender-related violence. The cultural and belief systems giving rise to FGM are complex. Further, FGM is an intensely intimate matter often imposed on young and vulnerable children. Approaches to its eradication therefore demand considerable human insight and a competent grasp of inter-/cross-agency working. It is also vital that everyone concerned - whether in caring and parental, safeguarding or other roles - understands fully that, regardless of custom or belief, FGM is a serious crime....
The book also covers the past century of action against FGM globally, as well as examining many instances of how FGM issues are attended to in many parts of the world.
CONTENTS and PREVIEW: https://www.routledge.com/Eradicating-Female-Genital-Mutilation-A-UK-Perspective/Burrage/p/book/9781472419941
ISBN-10 : 1742576079
The handbook adopts a life-cycle approach to examine key milestones and events in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Contributors drawn from a range of disciplines, including psychology, medicine, nursing and midwifery, sociology, public health, women’s studies, and indigenous studies, explore issues through three main lenses:
the biopsychosocial model
feminist perspectives
international, multidisciplinary perspectives that acknowledge the intersection of identities in women’s lives.
The handbook presents an authoritative review of the field, with a focus on state-of-the-art work, encouraging future research and policy development in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Finally, the handbook will inform health care providers about the latest research and clinical developments, including women’s experiences of both normal and abnormal sexual and reproductive functions.
Drawing upon international expertise from leading academics and clinicians in the field, this is essential reading for scholars and students interested in women’s reproductive health.
~~~~
ABSTRACT, CHAPTER 33: Female Genital Mutilation and Genital Surgeries, by Hilary Burrage
Female genitals have been a source of fascination and fear throughout history. Patriarchal control of women by suturing their genitals has occurred over thousands of years, and still these practices – female genital mutilation – continue in communities of many types around the world. The personal, social and economic damage inflicted by FGM is enormous, with probably around three million girls and women affected every year. FGM is therefore a public health epidemic of the highest order.
This chapter considers many aspects of FGM, from immediate and longer-term physical and psychological health impacts for those who undergo FGM and their families, to modes of treatment and prevention in traditional settings and in modern urban environments. Issues addressed include medicalization, the questions raised by male circumcision and the vocabularies employed in discussion of FGM. Comparisons of FGM with contemporary surgical practices, such as female genital cosmetic surgeries, and paediatric sex assignment and later disorders of sex development, are also explored from the perspectives of the individuals concerned, their families and contexts, and their clinicians. Finally, a central emphasis is placed on eradication; if people stopped doing it, FGM would stop. Public health initiatives and education are as essential as enforcement of the law.
In my editorial capacity I learned a lot about a culture and customs very different from my own, where the focus is on upholding what are considered to be Shi’a Islamic constraints and requirements in regard to marriage.
Below is the Foreword I wrote for that book.
ISBN: 978-1-914165-21-41
The scope of the project gradually extended into regions of Iran beyond my home, and in this journey, I enjoyed assistance in fieldwork as well as in analysis and assembly of data.
While focused most sharply on FGM-affected areas in the western part of the country, namely West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, and some areas in southern Iran, that is, Hormozgan province and its islands, you will find a comprehensive overview of the custom’s prevalence throughout the entire country. (A 2017 unedited update is available electronically at http://kameelahmady.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/THE-CHANGING-PARADIGMS-OF-FGMC-WEB.pdf.)
ISBN-10 : 398138637X
I was fascinated by it all: how research is chosen, funded and develops, and how ‘theories’ are constructed, both by real human beings via conscious and cultural choices . It was therefore a pleasure in 1993 to respond when the editors of 'Sociology Reviewed' invited me to write about ‘The Sociology of Science and the Science of Society’ for their book.
And 25 years later, overall the same general observations still apply…
So below is the piece I wrote for 'Sociology Reviewed', in which I tease out how the natural and social sciences have much in common, both being shaped by the curiosities, available resourcing, investigatory skills and eventually negotiated paradigms of the people who develop any particular subject focus. Eternal ‘truths’ are a matter of individual belief, not science; but shared understandings based on tested and established evidence – even though what comprises accepted evidence, and the subsequent understandings (paradigms), may change over time – can take us a long way towards meaningful insights into the natural and social worlds in which we all live.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
'Sociology Reviewed' brings together edited versions of the best articles which have appeared in "Social Studies Review" and "Sociology Review" in recent years. Aimed at A and AS Level students, it includes coverage of every area of the A/AS level syllabus.
As his helpful Introduction to the book (pp. vii-ix) explains, Prof Dufour offered ways to incorporate via a cross-curricular approach several aspects of subject learning which many of us regard as essential, but were not then accorded by the Government the statutory requirement of ‘core’ delivery.
My task was to propose such incorporation for Health Education, an particularly delicate aspect of any school’s curriculum both because it is dependent on the knowledge, skills and willingness of teachers to deliver, and because it embraces such thorny issues as drugs and ‘sex education’, the latter set at that time in the context of ‘Section 28‘ (homosexuality, AIDS – and the related unarticulated suicidal fears of and for some young men) along with the moral panic about ‘teenage pregnancy’. (An aside: the ‘Gillick competence‘ test had only recently been established, perhaps ironically after Victoria Gillick unsuccessfully challenged any provision of contraception advice to under-16s. The Gillick consent concept as applying to a range of largely health and medical provisions – including in 2021 Covid-19 vaccinations in English schools – was not yet fully established when Barry Dufour’s book was published.)
Below is what I wrote as Chapter 4 of The New Social Curriculum.
• Create connections between the clinical treatment/care of women and girls with female genital (‘sexual’) mutilation (FGM) and various of the environments in which the practice continues;
• Establish that two themes – economics and patriarchy – are critical to a full understanding of this harmful practice; and
• Explore ways in which colleague support across disciplinary boundaries, along with a willingness to try new approaches to the problem, may help to enable a Public Health framework leading to the eradication of FGM.
I also note in the above contexts some of the personal discomforts and very different circumstances which various professionals, amongst them clinicians, may experience as they move towards a wider perspective on FGM; and I explore, in anticipation I hope of further discussion, possible ways forward to resolve these valid potential challenges or problems.
It is argued that currently prevailing concepts of the scientific status and appropriate mode of operation of epidemiology fall short of those required for the development of effective strategies to promote health in the everyday world. The need, at present unmet, exists for an experimentally meaningful and politically aware theory and method in health research and practice.
~~~
This paper proposes a possible framework to examine concepts of public space in relation to culture, knowledge, community engagement and inclusion. It is not a challenge to current ideas about the sustainable development of public space, but offers additional perspectives arising from wider debates about the importance of understandings in shaping resilience, cohesion and sense of place.
Green space can be an agent for social cohesion and the sustainable development and inter-connectedness of communities. The shift required to achieve this is to perceive green space, not just as a benign and pleasant passive context, but actually as a potentially pro-active force for community sustainability, cohesion and engagement and wider social inclusion – to move from conventional ideas about green ‘space’ to the more nuanced idea of green ‘hubs’, as one way to enhance communities’ well-being through genuine stakeholder engagement and social inclusion.
How this shift might be achieved is a complex matter, comprising a combination of skilled professional input and the particular insights which only residents and citizens ‘on the ground’ can provide in any given instance.
The format of the piece was questions / statements and responses. No doubt over time, as we unpick the issues further, the precise interrogation of FGM will change, but I hope nonetheless this Polemic will remain of interest. Here it is….
Time-honoured divides are sometimes so embedded that reconciliation between different perspectives looks to be impossible.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) provides one example of this divide, both because of the nature of the practice itself – anything which concerns sex or gendered beliefs can become a minefield - and because of the diametrically opposing perspectives held by its traditional proponents and those who in modern times have sought to eradicate it (cont....)
In the paper I examine the concept of patriarchy as an economic and powerful political force, and I ask in what ways this concept applies as incarnate to the actual bodies and minds of women. Sadly, the answer is: patriarchy incarnate affects women (and some men) in very many ways.
My intention is talking about patriarchy incarnate is to move beyond concepts such as 'violence against women and girls', to identify the ultimate agency of this harm - mostly powerful and wealthy men.
This note, which I prepared for a presentation, gives some background to the recent COP26 meeting, provides some information on the critical issues around climate change and environmental sustainability, and suggests various levels at which political pressure and action to protect our planet, people and other living things on it may be appropriate.
One such critical issue is Child Marriage, a practice which has for at least a century been acknowledged to cause enormous harm (especially to girls and babies). But still it continues in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and, yes, even in some modern first world nations.
There are various views about what constitutes ‘child’ marriage, but the general consensus is that it comprises marriage before the age of 18. Let’s start our consideration of it with the suffragist Eleanor Rathbone. From there we shall move to reports of child marriage in the USA and in Britain, and on to continuing overt Iranian judicial justifications for it in 2020-21.
In all these locations – and in many other corners even of the Western world – child marriage, often linked to female genital mutilation (FGM), is one of the greatest harms which may be inflicted on girls and women.
I addressed two aspects of this theme: first, the economic factors and impacts of FGM for individuals and families; and second, these factors and impacts for wider communities and nations. Below is a summary of my talk and of some of the discussion which followed it:
Female genital mutilation is a long entrenched facet of the economic infrastructure of many traditional societies. It is also hugely expensive, both in the usual financial sense of expenditure and opportunity costs, and in the sense of tragic costs to human life and well-being. This paper will explore some ideas around what is currently acknowledged about the economics of FGM at the local, national and international levels. The focus will then turn to what has not as yet been explored in significant depth. What are the consequences of FGM in terms of human resources squandered through ill-health and early death? How much diversion of individual nations' economic investments, and of global humanitarian effort, does FGM incur? What other fiscal and welfare detriments do the costs of FGM impose? Looking forwards, what economic and other trade-offs might be required to end FGM, as our knowledge of the economic bases develops and impacts of this traditional harmful practice are fully identified? Rather than asking how many years it will take to end FGM, should we be asking how much economic and other resource investment (from many parties) is required to make FGM history? 'Aid donors have a right and duty to become involved in [FGM] prevention and to place pressure on the relevant governments to undertake effective measures to eradicate it. 'In areas where more than 50% of the female population undergo genital mutilation, [thereby] placing extra burdens on already inadequately resourced health care and delivery, aid given towards health programmes should be tied to proven measures taken by governments to abolish female genital mutilation.' That view, from one of the most significant advocates against FGM ever, was written in 1994. Since then wider public awareness and understandings of this harmful traditional practice have developed very considerably. We now know that the incidence of FGM around the globe is actually increasing. Yes, rates (percentage of women and girls 'cut' in various countries) are in many cases dropping, but the absolute numbers undergoing FGM are increasing because of the ever-growing youth population. Given that alarming fact, there is surely now a case for suggesting that a proportion of all financial aid (or of matched national funds) should be allocated to the eradication of FGM. Further, to avoid any questions about imperialist duplicity, the same proportionality of funding should in logic be allocated by Western governments to their own FGM eradication budgets.
https://hilaryburrage.com/2016/05/12/the-4-es-of-fgm-eradication-my-paper-on-economics-at-the-un-geneva-iac-meeting/
In preparing my presentation for BAME Birthing with Colour I drew on a wider social, psychological and economic analysis of FGM, in the hope that such an overview can enhance perspectives around the important work in which activists and professionals are engaged as they strive to make FGM history forever.
It is a truism that ‘science’ sees only what it chooses to consider. The current Covid-19 pandemic (70+m cases) has received many multiples of the resources available to address FGM (200+m cases). Further, subject disciplines (e.g. Public Health, if not Epidemiology as such) which illuminate disadvantage are less likely to gain political favour. Reflecting on this, I called my talk
'Going solo, passing the buck or joining the dots? Why a multi-disciplinary curriculum is essential in professional training (and practice) to eradicate female genital mutilation.'
https://hilaryburrage.com/2016/05/12/un-geneva-my-book-launch-at-the-iac-conference-on-fgm/
All obstetricians and gynaecologists will have a general idea that things are 'different' when they observe direct clinical evidence of female genital mutilation. But not all are aware that sometimes the evidence is less overt (FGM may, for instance, have been done to a very young infant), nor will all of them consider the possibility that symptoms reported by a patient relate to FGM. FGM delivery modes are many and require further investigation by medical anthropologists; assumptions or vague ideas about who may have experienced FGM will also mask the reality that women and girls are at risk in different places of different forms of this serious criminal assault and breach of human rights Some who encounter FGM in the course of their clinical work say they have 'one chance to get it right', in the few moments after the possibility that FGM is presenting has arisen…. >Clinicians need to be prepared for their first encounter with FGM before it occurs. There are numerous accounts of women with FGM who found their clinicians' first responses alarming. Routine early training on FGM is compelling. (Consider Dr Dharmasena of Whittington Hospital….) >It is now standard that all women attending initial antenatal care be asked about FGM (and FGCS?); and conversations (the 'FGM pathway') about any future risk to baby girls are also essential. >Likewise, clinicians must be aware of mandatory requirements around both anonymous statistical reporting and to alerting relevant authorities if there is any direct evidence of harm or of suspected future risk to minors. (Why this requirement is viewed differently from, eg, reporting infectious diseases / hazards is an interesting issue.) The route to reporting may vary by local authority; there is still no nationally defined, required single route for referring concerns and protecting minors.
https://hilaryburrage.com/2017/03/31/talking-about-fgm-welsh-obstetrics-and-gynaecology-meeting/
My task was to contribute to a round table discussion on ‘the benefits, the hurdles and the effects on prevention of committed implementation of the law’. In my paper I examined the risk that an inadvertent turf war around FGM might now be emerging in the UK between the medics and the lawyers.
The symposium was held at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, as part of that Hall’s International Gender Studies programme for the Oxford international Women’s Festival, now in its 25th year
https://hilaryburrage.com/2015/03/07/preventing-fgm-beware-a-turf-war-between-medicine-and-law/
https://hilaryburrage.com/2018/03/09/female-genital-mutilation-money-inadequate-funding-vested-interests-mdg-and-gdp/
*Does FGM cause traumatised communities?
*Is it time to drop the term 'cutting'?
*Is the eradication of foot-binding comparable to eradicating FGM?
The 2nd International Academic Seminar on FGM was an excellent opportunity to exchange information, meet new colleagues and consolidate old friendships. For these reasons alone attendance was well worthwhile, but for me this two day meeting on 8 and 9 June 2017 also prompted afresh some considerations around the fundamentals of the challenge to #EndFGM:
And so I share below some notes on the FGM knowledge gaps and praxis issues with which I think we are all confronted. Your thoughts on my provisional analysis will be warmly welcomed.
https://hilaryburrage.com/2017/06/10/brussels-places-research-on-female-genital-mutilation-centre-stage/
The UK has a zero tolerance policy on FGM. It is hypocritical to want to send a child to a place where that will likely be her fate, and still to hold no proper data on the incidence of these sorts of cases.
* Maria Frederika Malmstrὅm The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt: Gender, Sexuality and the Construction of Identity (2016) I.B. Tauris, London and New York : 244 pp
* Heidi Morrison Childhood and Colonial Modernity in Egypt (2015) Palgrave Macmillan, London and New York : 176 pp
* Nefissa Naguib Nurturing Masculinities: Men, Food and Family in Contemporary Egypt (2015) University of Texas Press, Austin TX : 144 pp
In 2018 I wrote a review of three books on Egyptian gender politics for the journal Left History. This essay has just now been published in Vol. 22, No. 1 (2018). In my review I seek to understand the rationales by which female genital mutilation (FGM) continues in Egypt in a context where it seems both that many men strive to maintain patriarchy and also to demonstrate their nurturing intent, and that women try to reconcile their ‘modern’ and traditional roles. I am also critical in that field researchers did not challenge post-interview some respondents’ beliefs that FGM is necessary and harmless.
Eva J. Salber’s book, The Mind is not the Heart: Recollections of a Woman Physician, was first published in 1989, and I was lucky enough in 1990 to be asked to write a review of it for the journal Sociology of Health and Illness.
Thirty years later this book is still available, and people are still reading it. so here is my small contribution to Dr Salber’s literary profile.
One further observation: I was startled on revisiting my review to see that, Dr Salber having emphasised the failure of South Africa and the USA to have a national health service, I actually ended my commentary with concerns about the viability of the British NHS, even back all those years ago when the UK was governed by a previous Conservative Government. Some things for the public good, Eva Salber might agree, require unceasing vigilance even when the battle seems to have been won.