“Don’t judge me”: narratives of living with FGM

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a participant led arts-based workshop for survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM) in order to explore their experiences and impact of FGM on health and wellbeing, and to use the artefacts to inform development of an e-learning resource. Design/methodology/approach The study utilised a creative narrative approach which included the sharing of personal stories, the creation of pottery models and the sharing of artefacts. A narrative approach was chosen as the methodology for the study as narratives are now well established within qualitative research as a meaningful way in which the voices of participants take precedence over those of the researcher. Six women who are living with FGM agreed to take part. Findings The composition of the workshop essentially encompassed two main strands: the creation of a persona and sharing artefacts. These are described in detail with supplementary images included wherever appropriate. The authors have not attempted to present the findings of the workshop from the perspective of the researcher but have rather enabled the findings to speak for themselves. Research limitations/implications There is a paucity of studies which have explored women’s experiences of living with FGM and the impact on health and well-being. The findings suggest that there is further scope for research and practice development which examines the impact of education on professional’s approaches to FGM. Originality/value This study and the wider focus towards the impact of FGM beyond the physical or procedural aspects of FGM offer a contribution to the evolving evidence base in this field.

Seeking culturally safe care: a qualitative systematic review of the healthcare experiences of women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting

“…The studies represented 14 different countries, including Australia,100 101 116 117 Austria,113 Canada,118–123 Finland,124 France,90 Germany,112 125 the Netherlands,126 127 New Zealand,116 128 Norway,99 129 Spain,114 115 Sweden,23 94 130–132 Switzerland,98 133 Scotland,89 134 135 England25 92 93 95–97 136–144 and USA 91 145–153. The studies were a mixture of older and more recent research, with publication dates ranging from 1985 to 2017.…”

“…A large proportion of studies (n=18) focused specifically on women’s birth/maternity care experiences 89–91 94 95 97 99 117 119 128 130–132 139 145 146 150. Other studies focused on general views on healthcare,25 100 101 112 113 115 122 138 140 152 153 general attitudes towards FGM/C,23 96 121 123 125 134–136 142 143 151 experiences of sexual/reproductive health services,98 114 116 124 133 148 cervical screening,126 137 147 149 psychological issues,92 93 127 deinfibulation,129 144 general practitioner (GP) services,141 identity118 and pain/embodiment 120. There were no studies that examined women’s experiences of surgical reconstruction following FGM/C and no studies that examined experiences of health service-led safeguarding interventions.…”

“…Full details of assessments of methodological quality, richness (thick/thin) and relevance are provided in online supplementary file 6 (see table 5 for a summary). Thirty papers were assessed as being of high quality,23 89–101 115 117 120 121 123 124 126 127 129 134–136 144 147 149 151 21 as medium quality25 112 114 118 119 125 128 130–133 137 139 140 142 143 145 146 148 150 153 and 6 as low quality 113 116 122 138 141 152…”

New Zealand should intensify efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation by 2030: the views of women from communities that practice FGM/C

“…-The New Zealand health system should intensify primary prevention using intersectoral approaches. Integrating FGM/C programmes with other women's services could be a more cost effective and appropriate solution with policies and programmes addressing FGM/C being inclusive, creative, and relevant to these populations (Denholm and Powell, 2009;Recchia and McGarry, 2017).…”

What is home? An art-based workshop to explore the physical, relational and wellbeing properties of Home

“…In line with participatory arts-based research (Recchia and McGarry 2017) eight researchers attended the workshop and actively were involved in the artistic process through discussion and participation in the mindfulness activities. However, they did not take part in the art creation itself to ensure their views were not influencing the posterior focus groups or artwork.…”