Do men have any influence in stopping women and girls from undergoing FGM in Sierra Leone? The case of Mabonkani Village in Bombali District

Sammanfattning: ABSTRACT “FGM is known to have no health benefits and has serious, immediate and long-term physical and psychological health consequences, which can be severe, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and reduced desire or sexual satisfaction” (28 Too Many, 2014, p5). This master thesis is an attempt to gain male perspectives in strategies to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation, FGM. The aim is to gain an understanding on how men view the concept of FGM in relation to existing norms such as gender, social and international norms. Literature tends to focus less on men’s roles and views compared to on women´s for how to end FGM. The male perspective is very important especially as literature shows that cultural practices in most cases benefit men compared to women as is shown in the case of FGM. Men are held in high esteem as the ones with a final deciding voice in the homes, institutions and the general community. This was also the case in the village of Mabonkani. Men hold powers to enable or prohibit actions and practices.  Therefore, if FGM is to end, men can, because of their positionality spearhead effective campaigns and awareness raising messages. Focus groups and interviews were used to obtain information. The empirical findings were analysed and categorised and then presented in tables, graphs and themes. The findings revealed a conflictual decision making that men face if/when they decide to abandon FGM as it is heavily tied to their cultural and social identity. Abandoning the practice also means that they face ostracism by their own community members, loss of identity as a family man and community member, breaking up social cohesion among other reasons. Men are keen on ending FGM after lengthy discussions on its complications at a personal and social level. Men expressed that they preferred the training of women than the removal of clitoris. They offered various solutions including sending girls to schools to address issues of informed consent/age as well as getting young people to be more involved in and to include all actors instead of picking just a few. The views of household men and youth were different. The youth embraced international norms. They suggested that it is up to them to change the future of the next generation through the information available and they no longer claim ignorance about FGM as was the case earlier.  All men interviewed cited challenges of identity, ostracism by their own community and lack of national laws to support their actions. The analysis looked at the human rights approach, how local communities can be influenced to abandon traditional harmful practices in favour of international norms that will promote gender equality and breakdown structural and systematic norms that discriminate.