Is There a Place for Harmful Traditional Practices to Continue in the West?
N'Deane Aaliyah Helajzen, Masters of Social Health (Medical Anthropology) student, School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne
In 1996 legislation was introduced to most states of Australia making the traditional practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) a crime. This paper considers the approach taken towards abolishing the practice both in Australia and overseas over the last 10 years. When the medical complications and side effects of female circumcision are laid out, it becomes impossible to ignore the challenge these pose to the cultural relativism which undergirds anthropology. Culture is sometimes seen as a weave of meanings with each belief and practice resonating with the whole. Anthropologists explore the emic dimension of culture – how practices carry meaning in the culture itself, as distinct from an external perspective. Whilst it is appealing for the Anglo population in Australia to assume a feminist solidarity that unites in opposing female circumcision, it is still not clear that African women welcome the intervention of outsiders. The introduction of legislation prohibiting FGM has slowly increased angst amongst community members. making them fearful of authorities, and leaving them to either circumcise their daughters outside the country or deal with the strong social and cultural consequences of not fulfilling this cultural rite of passage. Merely recognising a health hazard does not imply opposition to circumcision and in the greater context of socio-cultural beliefs and values, to confront the communities on medical grounds has to date, not proved productive. I aim to explore the years since the blanket ban was introduced, discussing if we’ve made any progress towards abolishing the practice or if we have encouraged affected communities to feel victimised and judged, and in doing this, encouraged the practice to go underground.
