It’s a woman’s thing: gender roles sustaining the practice of female genital mutilation among the Kassena‑Nankana of northern Ghana

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dc.contributor.authorAkweongo, P.
dc.contributor.authorJackson, E.F.
dc.contributor.authorShirley Appiah‑Yeboah, S.
dc.contributor.authorSakeah, E.
dc.contributor.authorPhillips, J.F.
dc.date.accessioned2021-05-11T09:20:50Z
dc.date.available2021-05-11T09:20:50Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.descriptionResearch Articleen_US
dc.description.abstractIntroduction: The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM/C) in traditional African societies is grounded in traditions of patriarchy that subjugate women. It is widely assumed that approaches to eradicating the practice must therefore focus on women’s empowerment and changing gender roles. Methods: This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of the FGM/C beliefs and opinions of men and women in Kassena-Nankana District of northern Ghana. Data are analyzed from 22 focus group panels of young women, young men, reproductive age women, and male social leaders. Results: The social systemic influences on FGM/C decision-making are complex. Men represent exogenous sources of social influence on FGM/C decisions through their gender roles in the patriarchal system. As such, their FGM/C decision influence is more prominent for uncircumcised brides at the time of marriage than for FGM/C decisions concerning unmarried adolescents. Women in extended family compounds are relatively prominent as immediate sources of influence on FGM/C decision-making for both brides and adolescents. Circumcised women are the main source of social support for the practice, which they exercise through peer pressure in concert with co-wives. Junior wives entering a polygynous marriage or a large extended family are particularly vulnerable to this pressure. Men are less influential and more open to suggestions of eliminating the practice of FGM/C than women. Conclusion: Findings attest to the need for social research on ways to involve men in the promotion of FGM/C abandonment, building on their apparent openness to social change. Investigation is also needed on ways to marshal women’s social networks for offsetting their extended family familial roles in sustaining FGM/C practicesen_US
dc.identifier.otherhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01085-z
dc.identifier.urihttp://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/36338
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherReproductive Healthen_US
dc.subjectFemale genital mutilationen_US
dc.subjectFemale genital cuttingen_US
dc.subjectSocial determinantsen_US
dc.subjectGender stratificationen_US
dc.subjectGhanaen_US
dc.subjectSahelian Africaen_US
dc.subjectHarmful traditional practicesen_US
dc.titleIt’s a woman’s thing: gender roles sustaining the practice of female genital mutilation among the Kassena‑Nankana of northern Ghanaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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