Hannelore Van Bavel

University of Bristol | UB · School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies

Background: There is an internationally accepted discourse on ‘Female Genital Mutilation’ which understands it as a human rights violation, a major health concern, and an extreme form of gendered violence. Since the 1980s, African women, postcolonial feminists and anthropologists have critiqued this discourse as ethnocentric and racist. Aims: We ex...

In this article we review how anthropologies from various subdisciplines, from social to evolutionary anthropology, are contributing to our understanding of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). We focus on four key questions: what are the origins of FGM/C; what functions and meanings are linked to FGM/C; how does FGM/C persist and/or change;...

Postcolonial feminists and anthropologists have criticised anti-female genital mutilation (FGM) efforts for being ethnocentric and for imposing ‘Western’ values onto African communities. Recently, a Kenyan medical doctor has petitioned against Kenya's Prohibition of FGM Act, arguing that the Act is unconstitutional and the entrenchment of Western v...

Based on ethnographic research among the Samburu of northern Kenya, this article examines the association between formal education and the abandonment of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). It challenges the notion that Samburu continue cutting out of “ignorance” of the health and legal implications of cutting. The findings show that, rather...

Since the late 1990s, so-called ‘alternative rites of passage’ (ARP) have gained popularity in Kenya as a strategy to end female genital mutilation (FGM). ARPs promise to end FGM while respecting indigenous cultures by mimicking the ‘traditional’ initiation ritual but with the omission of the physical cut. The limited number of studies on ARPs larg...

Using an ethnographic approach that combines participant observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews, this study describes ongoing changes in the social norm and practice of female circumcision among the Maasai community of Loita Hills, Kenya. This article highlights the importance of place in shaping social relations, by showing how in Loi...

Using mixed methods that combined participant observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews, this study looked at changing practices and shifting meanings of female genital cutting among the Maasai people in Tanzania. The findings suggest that an increasing social pressure to abandon female genital cutting has inspired the hiding of the pract...

This study examines how young women sex workers exercise agency when entering prostitution, coping with occupational health problems and accessing healthcare services. It was conducted at two sites in Tanzania: Morogoro on Tanzania’s mainland and Stone Town on Zanzibar Island. A total of 19 in-depth interviews were conducted with female sex workers...