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RESEARCH CENTER FOR PREVENTING
AND CURING FGM AND ITS COMPLICATIONS
Abdulcadir Omar Hussen
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Florence (Italy)
1. INTRODUCTION
At the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University of Florence, all the types of female genital mutilation (FGM) have been treated every day for more than twenty years; from the most severe and painful to the less severe ones. We receive hundreds of mutilated women, coming from all over the world and from local communities to have their health problems treated. Because of this, at the end of 2003, the regional authority recognized this work, and our department was named “Research Center for Preventing and Curing FGM and its Complications.”
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE CENTER
2.1 Meetings
The center has regular meetings with the Association of Immigrants and their representatives from African countries and regions where FGM is still practiced. The first and foremost objective of these meetings is to prevent FGM by establishing relationships with influential religious and medical figures within these communities. The support and backing that these influential figures give the Research Center is fundamental in facilitating the
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G.C. Denniston et al. (eds.), Bodily Integrity and the Politics of Circumcision, 117 122.
2006 Springer.
center’s work of informing immigrant communities of the grave dangers of FGM. Special attention is given to families with daughters born around 1995 who will now be at the critical age for a mutilation ceremony. The summer holiday period is a key time, as families take their daughters back to their homeland or to other countries tolerant of this practice.
In our work with the immigrant community, the Center stresses the futility of existing ritual practices and how important complete undamaged genitalia are for a woman’s health and for her ability to have children successfully. On this subject, our work with the men in these communities is very important. They must be taught what intact female genitalia look like and what is natural physical virginity, as many men believe that only mutilated women are virgins and refuse to marry non-mutilated women.
Another important issue to explain to people in these communities is the different way this practice is viewed in their host country. Immigrants need to know that this practice is illegal in their host nation because it is seen as a violation of rights, as violence against women, and as child abuse. The necessity to abide by the laws of the host nation is explained and emphasized.
All of this information is circulated through the preparation and distribution of information leaflets, especially during antenatal care. Our research has found that many women, as a result of the pain and suffering they have endured as victims of FGM, are searching for an alternative ritual for their daughters, something that does not mutilate but retains the symbolic ritual of the established practice.
2.2 Census
A census has been compiled of all the female babies born at the hospital of Careggi, Florence, over the past few years with the aim of preventing FGM. We hope that this project will be developed soon to include other hospitals in Tuscany.
2.3 Treatment for FGM complication
Complications due to FGM in women are treated, and material is being prepared regarding such complications as a guide for other doctors, obstetricians, and students of medicine.
2.4 Support
The Center provides a support and consultancy role for immigrants and their gynecologists in the Florence area. The Center is often approached for help and advice from doctors who have patients with problems beyond their
experience or who need help with language or knowledge of equipment for treating FGM patients. As a result of this, the Center is going to prepare seminars and training courses.
2.5 Consultations
The Center often receives telephone calls from Italian doctors who need help and advice on FGM cases.
2.6 Treatment and Training
The Center treats and cures women with FGM during antenatal care. At the same time, we:
• Work on the prevention of FGM, included in antenatal care.
this may incur.
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before any physical examination or operation is performed.
• Diagnose the type and extent of the mutilation at the first visit.
• Establish guidelines for any operation to open type 3 mutilations.
• Train doctors and obstetricians in the different surgical techniques to reverse different types of FGM.
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couples with FGM.
2.7 Labor Support
The Center provides support for the laboring woman.
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to reduce any trauma to the perineum during labor.
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Strategies for labor have to be developed, including ways of performing episiotomies or carrying out deinfibulation on women Train doctors and obstetricians in ways of counseling women and Build a trusting relationship between the couple and the doctor any operation to reverse FGM (deinfibulation) and any risks that Provide couples with information about the right time and form of
• Train staff in the labor room to recognize different types of FGM, been resolved during antenatal cure.
• Guidelines for the suturing of the perineal area in women with FGM during labor need to be established.
2.8 Postpartum Care
The Center provides post delivery care. Many FGM women need extra check ups after delivery to ensure a quick diagnosis of any ensuing complications.
2.9 Education
The Center has an active teaching program. Our seminars include:
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been held in many places in Italy.
• Training courses for gynecologists, obstetricians, and nurses.
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problem.
• Conferences for university students in the faculties of medicine, psychology, and law.
2.10 Collaboration
Collaboration with European and international universities.
2.11 Deinfibulation
The Center provides deinfibulation, which is carried out on women, with the consent of their partners, either when they get married to help avoid great pain during their first sexual relationships or during pregnancy and to give the woman a greater chance of a natural birth. Deinfibulation may also be necessary in order to carry out certain gynecological examinations.
Workshops in local high schools to make students aware of the concerning all the areas of FGM. These seminars have already Discussion about our knowledge and the results of our research making them aware of the complications involved if they have not
2.12 Research
The Center provides scientific research. The results of our research into the psychosexual consequences of FGM in 137 mutilated women have been presented at the following conferences:
in Pisa. October 2002.
Health in Florence, October 2002.
• 16th World Congress of Sexology in Havana, March 2003.
• 17th Conference of the European Society of Psychology and Health (EHPS) in Kos, 24th – 29th September 2003.
Sexual Health (ISSWSH) in Amsterdam, 16th – 19th October 2003.
Department of General Psychology in Padua, 2 4 September 2004.
We gave our scientific support in the “Stop FGM” meetings campaign and for many degree theses.
We made a preliminary research into defibulation: methods, motives, and consequences.
All of the above projects were held in collaboration with the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Florence.
We published some results in the Italian magazine Sexology, directly addressing the subject of FGM.
We studied the medical records of women with FGM to evaluate the number of caesarean sections in childbirth and, in consequence, the number of days of recovery and any ensuing complications
2.13 Preparation of Educational Material
Preparation and circulation of educational material illustrating the difference between normal female genitalia and mutilated female genitalia.
This material is aimed at immigrant populations as well as students of medicine and doctors and nurses in the fields of gynecology and obstetrics.
An Anthropological, Medical, Legal, and Ethical Analysis,
• 8th International Symposium on Circumcision and Human Rights:
• 3rd Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Female
• 5th National Congress of the Italian Society of Psychology and
• 1st National Congress of the Federation of the Society of Sexology
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2.14 Updating Medical Guidelines
The center keeps medical guidelines up to date in the light of new advances and research results.
2.15 Congress Organization
Organization of the second international congress, entitled Social- Healthy Integration for Immigrants, with the participation of the “Superior Institute of the Health.”
At the first congress, a decision was made to publish a book in the Somali language addressing the dangers of FGM. This book has already been published, thanks to sponsorship and support from the Florentine local government, and it is now being translated into other languages, including Italian.
2.16 Creating a Catalogue
Establishing an open catalogue of all our publications and research to be accessed by all interested parties.
2.17 Creating a Website
The creation of a web site of the Research Center
