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Young Men Against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Somaliland

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Young Men Against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Somaliland Faculty of Arts University of Helsinki YOUNG MEN AGAINST FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/CUTTING IN SOMALILAND DISCURSIVELY NEGOTIATING VIOLENCE, GENDER NORMS AND GENDER ORDER Maria Väkiparta DOCTORAL DISSERTATION To be presented for public discussion with the permission of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki, in Hall 302, Athena Building, on the 13th of December, 2019 at 12 o’clock. Helsinki 2019 ISBN 978-951-51-5620-4 (pbk.) ISBN 978-951-51-5621-1 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2019 ABSTRACT In Somaliland, the prevalence rate for female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) renders it nearly universal. An overwhelming majority of girls undergo the most radical type of FGM/C, locally referred to as pharaonic cutting. Yet, there is some evidence on a shift towards less radical types, locally labelled sunnah cutting. Amongst international institutions, researchers and activists engaged in preventing FGM/C, the practice is increasingly conceptualised as a human rights violation and as a form of gender discrimination. It is now argued that challenging stereotypes about gender power structures will pave the way for abandoning the practice. Simultaneously, researchers and activists urge men to voice their opinions about the practice. This research provides a deeper understanding of the engagement of young men in the prevention of FGM/C, but it also critically examines men’s engagement. Focusing on discursive practices, I examine how young men engaged in preventing FGM/C in Somaliland discursively negotiate violence against women, gender norms, and the gender order. I also explore whether these negotiations are on the one hand, consistent with those goals related to deconstructing the patriarchal gender regime and, on the other hand, consistent with locally prevailing masculinities. My study is guided by critical studies on men and masculinities and by a critical discourse analysis, through which I address the complex and often hidden workings of power and ideology in discourse. To do so, I collected data via semi-structured individual interviews with 19 university students (15 men, 4 women) who volunteered in a project to advocate against FGM/C in Somaliland. The interviewees employed four interlinked discourses: the righteousness discourse, the health discourse, the hierarchical difference discourse, and the masculine responsibility discourse. These discourses challenge some forms of violence against women, while legitimating others. They (re)produce prevailing masculinities and hierarchical gender order in many ways, but there are also discursive elements that renegotiate prevailing gender norms, particularly idealised womanhood. The findings of this study contribute to theories associated with female genital cutting as patriarchal violence, feminist theories on the workings of power and ideology within a discourse, and theories on men and masculinities. More practically, these findings can inform the design of programmes to prevent FGM/C, which should remain consistent with the deconstruction of patriarchal structures and practices that uphold FGM/C. Key words: discourse, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), gender-based violence, masculinities, men, patriarchal gender regime, gender norms, gender order, Somaliland 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS By 2013, as a dedicated UNICEF volunteer defender of the rights of children, I had read numerous reports on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). FGM/C fascinated me due to the controversies it entails, above all the fact that girls are exposed to the practice by their mothers, who aim to secure what they consider is best for their daughters. I was determined to support efforts to prevent the practice, and decided to hone my knowledge on the topic as well as add to our understanding of prevention strategies by undertaking this research. I am deeply grateful to all of the people and institutions that made this study possible. First and foremost, I want to thank the 19 university students who were willing to share their experiences, and whose interviews serve as the primary data for my study. Many of them are still today engaged in preventing FGM/C, and some also act as mentors for the next ‘generation’ of student anti- FGM/C activists. This dissertation is dedicated to these student activists, and the local civil society organisations in Somaliland engaged in preventing FGM/C. I also thank the international non-governmental organisation and their local implementing partner organisation in Somaliland, the staff from which afforded me the opportunity to explore their project and assisted with the practicalities related to data collection. I am also grateful to the other four local civil society organisations in Somaliland and their staff members who were willing to enlighten me prior to the student interviews. In addition, I extend my warmest gratitude to my research assistants Khadar and Farhan and my driver Muhumed, without whom the collection of data would not have been possible. I am eternally grateful to my supervisors, Associate Professor Marjut Jyrkinen and Associate Professor Lena Näre, for their time, encouragement, and valuable advice. Marjut has shown an unwavering commitment to my thesis from the beginning. She has been extremely supportive throughout, making our cooperation extremely smooth. She also appreciated my prior work experiences and studies outside gender studies, and understood my urge to build a career as a practitioner whilst writing this dissertation in the evenings. Lena also provided invaluable insight and constructive feedback, particularly regarding the research methodology. In addition, our joint article written with Marjut (Jyrkinen, Väkiparta, Lämsä, forthcoming 2019/2020) through the WeAll project1 served as an excellent form of collaboration, and proved helpful in the discourse analytical approach. I also want to offer my sincere gratitude to my pre-examiners, Professor Emeritus Keith Pringle and Adjunct Professor Marja Tiilikainen, for their valuable remarks, which helped me see the strengths and weaknesses of my 1 WeAll project (No 292883) is funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland. 4 work as well as the sections and chapters that required further clarification. I also thank Associate Professor Sofia Strid for serving as my public opponent, Professor Salla Kurhila for chairing the inspection committee, and Adjunct Professor Mira Karjalainen for serving as a committee member. Vanessa Fuller provided excellent and prompt work when proofreading the manuscript. I have been working full-time outside academia—most of the time 250 kilometres from Helsinki—throughout the six years I have been writing my thesis. Thus, I did not have as many chances to join the academic community as I would have liked. However, the comments and feedback that I received during various courses and seminars I attended, primarily organised by the Gender, Culture, and Society Doctoral Programme, helped me immensely at various stages during the writing process. The Nordic FGC Researcher Network (Forskning om kvinnlig omskärelse, FOKO) has also proved valuable, and I managed to attend two FOKO seminars (Helsinki, 2016 and Höör, 2018). Those engaged in FGM/C prevention in Finland—especially individuals from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and from the Finnish League for Human Rights—have provided support for my project since the very beginning. Soon after my field trip in January 2017, the vision that prompted my decision to undertake this dissertation became a reality. I was recruited as an adviser on gender equality by the International Solidarity Foundation (ISF), which is engaged in preventing FGM/C in the Eastern Africa. That has offered me an extraordinary position from which to utilise some of the results from my study to practical ends. At ISF, I have a number of colleagues and friends for whom I am grateful. I want to thank, in particular, Airi Kähärä, who has 20 years of experience in promoting the rights of women and girls in, for example, Somaliland. All of my colleagues in the ISF Helsinki office have demonstrated their understanding of my project, even if that meant that my tasks have occasionally been delegated to others during my study leaves. In 2014, when I became a doctoral student, I was working at the University Consortium of Pori. From the very beginning, I felt that my supervisors and closest colleagues understood that my research topic was my true passion, and would guide my future career. Yet, they were all highly supportive and flexible in terms of work arrangements when I had research seminars or attended courses in Helsinki. This also applies to the Finnish Red Cross, where I worked for a short period of time until I was recruited by the International Solidarity Foundation. A travel grant provided by the Nordic Africa Institute at Uppsala University was crucial in covering the costs of the data collection period in Somaliland. In addition, a grant from the Kari Mattila Foundation covered part of the research assistant’s salary. Likewise, a working grant from the Alfred Kordelin Foundation made possible study leave periods from my paid work, including the data collection period in Somaliland, and significantly contributed to the completion of this dissertation, together with a finalisation grant provided by the University of Helsinki. 5 Going further back, my mother and late father have remained highly supportive of my studies since I began lower primary school in 1984. I am also immensely grateful for my lifelong friendship with my dear sister. Furthermore, in the last several years, my mother as well as my parents-in-law have helped enormously by caring for my children when my husband and I have endured busy periods with our careers, studies, and positions of trust. Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my husband Janne, who has given all imaginable support to me and taken on the greatest responsibility in caring for our two sons Iiro and Arttu during my data collection trip to Somaliland and the half-year period when I lived alone in Helsinki before my family followed with our belongings.
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