Immigration changed the ethnic composition of Western European societies. The new populations brought a series of culturally determined practices that challenged the liberal framework of values of the receiving states. Despite the existence of important variations between the official discourses and the actual policies finally implemented, the responses to those challenges varied with the models of integration defined by each country to deal with ethnic diversity. In this article, we study the policies designed and implemented by the United Kingdom and France against “female genital mutilation” practices, analyzing how both British and French policies affected these types of practices.
At the first British conference on female genital mutilation (FGM) in 1989, it was decided that the expression “female circumcision” should be avoided and replaced by “female genital mutilation” (Dorkenoo and Hedley 1992). That choice was accepted and confirmed in 1991 by fifteen Eastern and Western African countries during a United Nations Human Rights department meeting. However, some African grassroots organizations based in the United Kingdom would prefer to use the expression “female genital cutting” rather than “female genital mutilation.” The expression “female circumcision” is considered misleading by many activists, for it brings to mind the much less dangerous practice of male circumcision, whose causes and consequences cannot be compared with those that are related to the genital cutting of girls. However, the terms “(female) circumcision,” “cut,” “operation,” “Sunna,” or the expression “to be closed” continue to be used at the community level by the concerned minority groups. The World Health Organization (WHO) distinguishes three types of FGM practices: type I: “circumcision: excision of the prepuce, with or without excision of part or all of the clitoris” (or Sunna); type II: “excision: excision of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia minora”; type III: “infibulation: excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening.” For further reference, see E. Dorkenoo and R. Hedley, Child Protection and Female Genital Mutilation: Advice for Health, Education and Social Work Professionals (London: Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development [FORWARD], 1992).
2.
N. Fraser, “ Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World,” New Left Review36 (2005): 69-88.
3.
A. Favel, Philosophies of Integration, Immigration and the Idea of Citizenship in France and Britain, (London: Macmillan , 1998).
4.
H. van Amersfoort and M. van Niekerk, “Immigration as a Colonial Inheritance: Post-Colonial Immigrants in the Netherlands, 1945-2002 ,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies32, no. 3 (2006): 323-46.
5.
D. Castles and A. Davidson, Citizenship and Migration: Globalization and the Politics of Belonging (New York: Routledge, 2000).
6.
Ibid., 62.
7.
World Health Organization (WHO), Female Genital Mutilation, Fact Sheet no. 241 (Geneva, Switzerland: WHO, June 2000).
8.
These practices are mainly performed on girls between the ages of four and thirteen, either in unsanitary conditions or in hospitals. The immediate health-related complications of FGM can be “haemorrhage, pain, shock, tetanus, sepsis, urine retention, injury to adjacent tissue, ulceration of the genital region and death.” Before or after marriage or prenatally, most women with infibulation go through a reversal procedure known as “de-infibulation” or “reversal” to allow penetration and delivery. This process is often followed by a “re-infibulation” after childbirth. Finally, FGM doubles the risk of the mother's death in childbirth and increases three- or fourfold the risk of stillbirth. For further information, see C. Momoh, Female Genital Mutilation, Also Known as Female Circumcision: Information for Health Care Professionals (London: Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital Trust, 2000).
9.
All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Population, Development and Reproductive Health, Parliamentary Hearings on FGM Report (London: APPG, 2000).
10.
C. Taylor, Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994).
11.
D. Castles, “ Democracy and Multiculturalism Citizenship: Australian Debates and their Relevance for Western Europe,” in From Aliens to Citizens (Public Policy and Social Welfare), ed. R. Bauböck, 3-27 (Aldershot , UK: Avesbury, 1994).
12.
T. Juge and M. Perez, 2006, “The Modern Colonial Politics of Citizenship and Whiteness in France,” Social Identities12, no. 2. (2006): 187-212.
13.
N. Fraser, Justice Interruptus : Critical Reflections on the Postsocialist Condition (London: Routledge, 1997).
14.
M. Wieviorka, Une Société Fragmentée? Le Multiculturalisme en Débat ( Paris: La Découverte, 1997).
15.
M. Deveaux, “ A Deliberative Approach to Conflicts of Culture,” in Minorities within Minorities: Equality, Rights and Diversity, ed. Avigail Eisenberg and Jeff SpinnerHalev, 340-363 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
16.
D. Castles and A. Davidson, Citizenship and Migration: Globalization and the Politics of Belonging (New York: Routledge, 2000).
17.
T. Hammar, ``State, Nation, and Dual Citizenship'' in Immigration and the Politics of Citizenship in Europe and North America, ed. R. B. William, 83-84 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989).
18.
M. Martiniello , “Citizenship of the European Union: A Critical View,” in From Aliens to Citizens, ed. R. Baubock, 29-47 (Avebury, UK/ Vienna: European Centre, 1994).
19.
Margizens form a very heterogeneous category that mainly includes “undocumented migrants,” that is, among others, asylum seekers whose applications were simply rejected, those whose applications were rejected but were allowed to stay for humanitarian reasons, those who were not allowed to present their applications for asylum (because they came from countries supposed to be “safe”) but were not expelled, those who had permits (working or residence) but lost them (did not have them renewed), those who arrived with visas (tourist, student, etc.) but overstayed, those who arrived with false papers, those who have permits in another EU country but not in the one in which they are currently living, those who crossed the borders undocumented (land, sea, Tunnel Channel at ports in the United Kingdom), and those who were given an order to leave the country but were not expelled.
20.
Following Woollacott, we can identify six forms of British nationality. British citizens are the majority; they have right of abode in the United Kingdom and have that citizenship usually through a connection with the United Kingdom. British overseas territories citizens (BOTCs) have that citizenship through a connection with a British overseas territory such as Gibraltar, St Helena, and so forth. British overseas citizens (BOCs) are a smaller group connected with the former British colonies who did not acquire citizenship of the new country when it attained independence. British nationals (overseas) (BN(O)s) are ethnically Chinese citizens from Hong Kong who became Chinese on July 1, 1997, but are still able to travel on British passports. British subjects (BSs), known as British subjects without citizenship before 1983, are a dwindling group of people who normally hold that status by birth in Eire before January 1, 1949, or because they were BSs before January 1, 1949, through a connection with a place that became a Commonwealth country. Finally, British protected persons (BPPs) are a small group of persons who hold that status through birth in a place that was either a U.K. protectorate, protected state, mandated, or trust territory. In most cases, BPP status was lost if the place was part of a country that attained independence. See S. Woollacott, “ Persons Granted British Citizenship,” United Kingdom 2004Home Office Statistical Bulletin ( London: Home Office, May 2005).
21.
A. Osborn and S. Boseley, “ EU May Ban Aid to States that Allow Female Circumcision,” The Guardian, November 30, 2000.
22.
British Medical Association (BMA), “ Female Genital Mutilation: Caring for Patients and Child Protection,” Guidance from the British Medical Association ( London : BMA, 2001); Royal College of Midwives (RCM), Female Genital Mutilation (Female Circumcision), position paper, no. 21 (London : RCM, 1998); and D. Read, Out of Sight, Out of Mind? The Report of a Survey into Inter-agency Policies and Procedures Relating to FGM in England and Wales ( London : FORWARD, 1998).
23.
Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE), “Recensement de la Population ,” Première (2000):748, Paris.
24.
M. Friedman, Autonomy, Gender, Politics (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2003).
25.
Home Office statistics for the United Kingdom show for example that 31 percent of asylum applicants in 2003 were female. Home Office, “Persons Granted British Citizenship UK 2005,” Statistical Bulletin (September 2006).
26.
Department of Education and Skills, “ Local Authority Social Services Letter (2004) 4. Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003” (London2004).
27.
Letter sent by a young Somali woman living in London to A. Guiné, March 21, 2006.
28.
Isabelle Gillette-Faye , “Fillettes et Adolescentes Concernées par les Mutilations Génitales Féminines en France et en Ile-de-France,” working paper, Groupe pour l'Abolition des Mutilations Génitales Féminines (GAMS), Paris, 2002.
29.
Letter sent by I. Gillette-Faye to A. Guiné, October 2, 2003.
30.
S. Saharso, “ Headscarves: A Comparison of Public Thought and Public Policy in Germany and the Netherlands,” in Contested Citizenship: Comparative Analyses, a special issue of Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP), ed. B. Siim and J. Squires, 9, no. 4 (2006).
31.
E. Kofman, A. Phizacklea, P. Raghuram, and R. Sales, Gender and International Migration in Europe: Employment, Welfare and Politics (London: Routledge , 2000). 32. C. Joppke, “Multiculturalism and Immigration: A Comparison of the United States, Germany, and Britain,” EUI working paper, no. 95/1, Florence, Italy ( 1995 ).
32.
The taking-up rates for British nationality (through any of the existing mechanisms) are quite high, particularly for the populations from areas affected by FGM such as Africa and the Middle East. Thus and according to data from the U.K. Labour Force Survey, 76 percent of African migrants and 72 percent of those coming from the Middle East having lived in the United Kingdom for six years or more had acquired British nationality, as compared to only 40 percent of the Europeans and 62 percent of those coming from the Americas. See Home Office, “Persons Granted British Citizenship UK 2005,” Statistical Bulletin (September 2006).
33.
C. Joppke, “ Multiculturalism and Immigration: A Comparison of the United States, Germany, and Britain,” EUI working paper, no. 95/1, Florence , Italy (1995).
34.
S. Benhabib , The Claims of Culture, Equality and Diversity in the Global Era (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002); A. Guine, “Multiculturalisme et Genre: Entre Sphère Publique et Privée,” Cahiers du Genre/GEDISST no. 38 (2005), 191-211; M. Spensky, Universalisme, Particularisme et Citoyenneté Dans les Iles Britanniques ( Paris: l'Harmattan, 2000); I.M. Young, Intersecting Voices: Dilemmas of Gender, Political Philosophy, and Policy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997); and N. Yuval-Davis, “Fundamentalism, Multiculturalism and Women in Britain,” in “Race,” Culture and Difference, ed. Donald and Rattansi, 278-92 (London: Sage, 1992).
35.
Women Against Fundamentalism (WAF) was a London-based organization created in 1989 to fight against the rise of fundamentalism in all religions. Its founders and activists are women with different backgrounds who come from all over the world. WAF became inactive in 1997 because of “lack of woman-power.” Since then, it is operative through its Web site (http://waf.gn.apc.org/) and e-mail discussion forum called “WAF-L.” WAF understands “fundamentalism” as “modern political movements which use religion as a basis for their attempt to win or consolidate power and extend social control.” The two major aims of WAF are to put an end to state funding of religious schools and to religious education imposed by the state (including Christian assemblies in state schools) and the development of a social policy to address “women's genuine needs,” excluding “racist and sexist assumptions as to how they are expected to behave according to their particular racial or cultural origin.” WAF Journal existed from 1990 to 1996. G. C. Spivak, N. Yuval-Davis, D. Kandiyoti, and T. Modood are among the authors who contributed to it. See http://waf.gn.apc.org/ (accessed on June 19, 2007).
36.
WAF, http://waf.gn.apc.org/ (accessed on June 26, 2007).
37.
Ibid.
38.
From 1995 to 1996, a series of institutions mobilized in this respect. Among them we could find Inner Cities Religious Council (ICRC), organ of what was the Ministry of Environment; the ecumenical institution Churches Working Together; the Interfaith Network (which gathers all the religions of the United Kingdom); the U.K. Action Committee on Islamic Affairs (UKACIA); the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB); the Islamic Foundation (in Leicester); the Islamic Schools (London); and the Council of Mosques (J. Sherif, “Campaigning for a Religion Question in the 2001 Census,” [London: Muslim Council of Britain, 2003], 3). Since 2001, the criteria of religion officially appear in the census.
39.
J. Sherif, “ Campaigning for a Religion Question in the 2001 Census,” ( London: Muslim Council of Britain, 2003), 3.
40.
Ibid.
41.
C. Smaje, Health, Race and Ethnicity: Making Sense of the Evidence, ( London: King's Fund Institute, 1995 ); D. Kelleher and S. Hillier, Researching Cultural Differences in Health (London: Routledge, 1996); D. Acheson , Inquiry into Inequalities in Health , London: The Stationery Office , 1998 ); and S. Cohen , From Ill Treatment to No Treatment ( Manchester, UK: Manchester Law Centre, 1983).
42.
The publication of the final report of the Research Working Group on inequalities in health, the so-called Black Report, pointing at the existence of important class differences in health status within different groups of the British population (including minority groups), represented a fundamental milestone in the fight to place the issue of health inequalities on the British political agenda. P. Townsend, The Black Report. Inequalities in Health (London: Penguin, 1992).
43.
Department of Health, Ethnic Minority Health : A Report of a Management Seminar ( London, 1988).
44.
Department of Health, On the State of the Public Health for the Year 1991 (London , 1992).
45.
Department of Health, Patient's Charter (London: HMSO, 1991).
46.
Department of Health, “ The Health of the Nation: A Strategy for Health in England.” Cm 1986. (London: HMSO, 1992).
47.
National Association of Health Authorities, Actions Not Words: A Strategy to Improve Health Services for Black and Minority Ethnic Groups (London, 1988); and W. Ahmad, Race and Health in Contemporary Britain (Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 1996).
48.
Jennifer Wiens, “ Female Circumcision Is Curbed in Egypt,” British Medical Journal313 (1996): 249.
49.
C. Joppke, “ Multiculturalism and Immigration: A Comparison of the United States, Germany, and Britain,” EUI working paper, no. 95/1, Florence , Italy (1995).
50.
“Citizenship Tests for Immigrants,” Guardian Unlimited, February 7, 2002.
51.
“Interview: Jasper Gerard Meets Trevor Phillips,” The Sunday Times, July 4, 2004.
52.
C. Joppke, Immigration and the Nation-State: The United States, Germany and Great Britain (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999), 226.
53.
C. Joppke, “ Multiculturalism and Immigration: A Comparison of the United States, Germany, and Britain,” EUI working paper, no. 95/1, Florence, Italy (1995).
54.
P. Weil, La France et Ses Étrangers [France and Its Foreigners] ( Paris: Gallimard, 1991).
55.
The Conseil Economique et Social (CES) is a consultative constitutional body charged with issuing recommendations to the French authorities as well as giving their opinion on bills to be submitted for approval in the French Parliament. It is composed of a representation of all economic and social forces of French society. More than two-thirds of the council members (163 out of 231) are designated directly by the organizations to which they belong (trade unions, private enterprises, industry, trade, arts and crafts, agriculture and professionals, cooperatives, and mutual benefit societies), and about a third are appointed by the government.
56.
F. Gagnon and M. Page, Conceptual Framework for an Analysis of Citizenship in the Liberal Democracies. Volume I: Conceptual Framework and Analysis. For the Multiculturalism Directorate, Citizen Participation Directorate, and Strategic Research and Analysis (SRA) Directorate (Department of Canadian Heritage , 1999), p. 23. http://culturescope.ca/ev_en.php?ID=1704_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC (accessed on June 27, 2007).
57.
R. Hansen and P. Weil, Towards a European Nationality: Citizenship, Immigration and Nationality Law in the EU (New York: Palgrave , 2001).
58.
C. Wihtol de Wenden, “Multiculturalism and Political Integration in Modern Nation-States,” International Journal on Multicultural Societies (IJMS)5, no. 1 (2003): 77-87 (UNESCO).
59.
Ibid.
60.
D. Lapeyronnie , l'Individu et les Minorités. La France et la Grande-Bretagne Face à Leur Immigrés [The Individual and the Minorities. France and the United Kingdom in Front of Their Immigrants] ( Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1993).
61.
M. Wieviorka , “Is Multiculturalism the Solution?” Ethnic and Racial Studies21, no. 5 (1998): 881-910; and M. Wieviorka (ed.), Une Société Fragmentée? Le Multiculturalisme en Débat [A Fragmented Society? Multiculturalism Debated] ( Paris: La Découverte, 1997).
62.
N. Schor, “ The Crisis of French Universalism,” Yale French Studies , no. 100, France/USA: The Cultural Wars (2001): 43-64.
63.
Ibid.
64.
SeeJean-Baptiste de Montvalon and Laetitia Van Eeckhout, “La France Résiste au Comptage Ethnique,” Le Monde (July 1, 2006).
65.
D. Fassin, “ Peut-on Étudier la Santé des Étrangers et des Immigrés?” [Can We Study the Health Condition of Foreigners and Immigrants?]Plein Droit, no. 38 (1998). http://www.gisti.org/doc/plein-droit/38/sante.html (accessed on May 28, 2007).
66.
Schor, “ The Crisis of French Universalism”
67.
Tarek A. Ghanem , “France in a Headscarf: Gothic Secularism's Counter-Authenticity,” Islam Online (December 1, 2004). http://www.islamonline.net/English/artculture/2004/01/article06.shtml (accessed on June 19, 2007 ).
68.
A. Phillips , “Between norms and practicalities,” Ethnicities5 (2005): 271-4.
69.
N.C. Moruzzi , “A Problem with Headscarves: Contemporary Complexities of Political and Social Identity,” Political Theory22, no. 4. (1994): 653-72.
70.
D. Fassin, “ Peut-on Étudier la Santé des Étrangers et des Immigrés?” [Can We Study the Health Condition of Foreigners and Immigrants?]Plein Droit, no. 38 (1998). http://www.gisti.org/doc/plein-droit/38/sante.html (accessed on May 28, 2007); and D. Fassin, Les Lois de l'Inhospitalité: Les Politiques de l'Immigration à l'Épreuve des Sans-Papiers [The Inhospitable Laws: Immigration Policies in Front of Undocumented Migrants] ( Paris: La Découverte, 1997).
71.
This report was edited by Scilla McLean who was then in charge of the research section of the Minority Rights Group (MRG). In 1981, after this publication, Efua Dorkenoo, who was then a Ghanaian nurse, founded the Women's Action Group on Female Excision and Infibulation (WAGFEI) under the patronage of the MRG. WAGFEI later became what is currently known as the Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (FORWARD). FORWARD is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that mainly focuses on research, information, and awareness training of professionals about FGM in the United Kingdom and Africa.
72.
H. Gerphagnon , “La Loi Anglaise Sur l'Excision du 16 Juillet 1985,” Droit et Cultures, no. 21 (1991): 188-92; and E. Sochart, “Legislating Against Female Circumcision: Social Reform or Placebo Politics,” Strathclyde Papers on Government and Politics, no. 54 (1987): 1-72.
73.
To find out more about the functioning of the Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC), please refer to its Web site: http://www.acpc.gov.uk/roles.htm.
74.
British Medical Association (BMA), “ Guidance for Doctors Approached by Victims of Female Genital Mutilation.” Paper of the Committee on Medical Ethics of the BMA ( London: BMA, 1996).
75.
According to Leye, de Bruyn, and Meuwese, there are differences of social class and cultural affiliation among patients attending these clinics. Northwick Park Hospital is mainly attended by refugees from the Somali educated middle class, whereas the Central Middlesex Hospital is mainly attended by Somali women from more deprived groups (E. Leye, M. de Bruyn, and S. Meuwese, Proceedings of the Expert Meeting on Female Genital Mutilation, Ghent, Belgium, November 5-7, 1998).
76.
The African Well Woman Clinic of Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital Trust is run by Comfort Momoh, FGM specialist midwife, member of the Core Group of the Female Circumcision Strategy Group of Black Women's Health and Family Support (BWHFS) and member of Optimum Health Services, a multidisciplinary and multiagency working group on FGM for the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham. See FORWARD, The Way Forward: Female Genital Mutilation in the UK. A Report of the Proceedings of the Inter-Agency / Non Governmental Organisations' Forum (London: FORWARD, 1997).
77.
C. Momoh, “ Female Genital Mutilation: The Struggle Continues,” PracticeNursing10, no. 2 (1999): 31-33.
78.
Letter from Jennifer Bourne, outreach nurse at the African Women's Health Clinic in Waltham Forest, North East London, to A. Guiné, September 6, 2003. According to J. Bourne, their services are to be mainstreamed, and because many of the women attend from outside the area of Waltham Forest, it cannot be funded by the local Primary Care Trust. She added that they have high numbers of women coming through the service and that they now have links with Whipps Cross Hospital, Waltham Forest, for reversals or deinfibulations.
79.
Interview with J. Bourne by A. Guiné, April 2002, London.
80.
Letter from Grace Evans, Policy Development and Review Officer, Greenwich Council, to A. Guiné, October 2, 2002.
81.
C. Momoh, Female Genital Mutilation, Also Known as Female Circumcision: Information for Health Care Professionals (London: Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital Trust, 2000).
82.
Within the initiatives developed by this group, some members of Parliament (MPs) carried out participating observation in projects to prevent FGM practices, and national and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were invited to participate in hearings with MPs at the British Parliament. See C. Indriso, “ A Glimpse of Post-Cairo Opinion in Brussels: Facts or Fiction?” Journal of the Society for International Development42, no. 1 (1999).
83.
Quoted from a letter sent by F. Harding, Coordinator of the Parliamentary Hearings, Commonwealth Institute, to E. Leye, responsible for “Networking in Europe for the Prevention of FGM,” April 11, 2000.
84.
As a matter of example and according to the minutes sent by Sue Green to A. Guiné concerning the meeting of April 2, 2003, the following persons and organizations attended that meeting: Anne Weyman, Sue Green, and Kristi Gooden, Women's National Commission (WNC); Adwoa Kluvitse, FORWARD; Asma'u Joda, Women Living Under Muslim Laws; Sarah McCulloch, Agency for Culture and Change Management, Sheffield; Gill Frances, National Children's Bureau; Eleheh Rambarzini and Helen Murshali, Refugee Council; Genevieve Painter, WomanKind Worldwide; Louise Douglas, Home Office (responsibility for the Private Members' Bill); Shamis Dirir and Zewdi Abadi, Black Women's Health and Family Support; Liz McKean, Amnesty International, United Kingdom; and Pauline Main, Churches Together in England.
85.
Interview with Dr. Gordon by J. Jones, 2000.
86.
Baroness Rendell, patron of London Black Women's Health Action Project (LBWHAP) and prime mover behind the cross-party parliamentary inquiry into FGM developed in 2000, declared herself “convinced that some U.K. health professionals are still carrying out the operation on request,” and stated that she “would like to see some prosecutions under the 1985 Act.” See J. Jones, “Concern Mounts over Female Genital Mutilation,” British Medical Journal, 321 (July 29, 2000): 262.
87.
Interview with a Somali woman by A. Guiné, 2002, London.
88.
Lords Hansard, “ Female Circumcision,” Parliamentary debate (London : The Stationary Office, March 23, 2000).
89.
London Black Women's Health Action Project , “Does Female Circumcision Constitute Child Abuse ?” Report on the First National Conference on Female Genital Mutilation (London: FORWARD , 1989).
90.
As it occurred in the 1940s in Sudan, when the British colonial government outlawed FGM without considering the local culture and traditions. Lois S. Bibbings, “ Female Circumcision: Mutilation or Modification?” in Law and Body Politics: Regulating the Female Body, ed. J. Bridgeman and S. Millns , 151-70 (Aldershot , UK: Dartmouth, 1995).
91.
All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), 2000, Parliamentary Hearings on FGM Report (London : APPG, May 2000).
92.
Letter to A. Guiné from former Women's Equality Officer, London Council (wished to remain anonymous), October 8, 2002.
93.
A. Gillan, “` The Worst Cut,' Special Report: Human Rights in the UK,” The Guardian, December 21, 2000.
94.
A. Guiné, “ Etat, Droits des Individus et Droits Culturels: l'Excision en GrandeBretagne Aujourd'hui,” in Citoyenneté(s): Perspectives Internationales , ed. M. Spensky, 172-92 (Clermont-Ferrand , France: Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations Etrangères dans le Monde Contemporain (CRCEMC), Presses Universitaires Blaise Pascal, 2003).
95.
Letter to A. Guiné from Policy Development and Review Officer, London Council (wished to remain anonymous), October 2, 2002.
96.
D. Read, “ Out of Sight, Out of Mind?” The Report of a Survey into Interagency Policies and Procedures Relating to FGM in England and Wales ( London: FORWARD, 1998).
97.
Only a registered nurse can become a health visitor after a one-year full-time course and two years part-time. The course includes psychology, physiology, normal and abnormal development, social policy, sociology, and epidemiology. The health visitor visits every family with a baby from the time the child is born, ten days consecutively after birth, then every six weeks, eight months, eighteen months, three years, and possibly fourand-a-half years, up to five years. The school nurse goes in after five to sixteen years.
98.
Interview of a health visitor by A. Guiné, April 20, 2002, London.
99.
U. Ruge, “ Female Genital Mutilation and the Position of African Refugee Women in Britain ,” Women Against Fundamentalism1 no. 3 (1992): 7-8.
100.
Ibid.
101.
Quoted from letter sent by L. Weil-Curiel, lawyer at the Commission for the Abolition of Female Genital Mutilation (CAMS), Paris, to A. Guiné, May 22, 2000.
102.
Interview with Shamis Dirir by A. Guiné, February 20, 2002, London.
103.
Refugee Women's Resource Project (RWRP), “African Communities in the United Kingdom May Be Unaware of Legislation Criminalizing Returns to Country of Origin for FGM,” Women's Asylum News, no. 35 (August 2003): 1-3
104.
Ibid.
105.
Note from Sarah McCullough to Sue Greene, February 20, 2003, as attachment to the meeting minutes of the Women's National Commission's FGM working group, sent by Sue Green to A. Guiné on February 26, 2003.
106.
Letter from Grace Evans to A. Guiné, October 2, 2002.
107.
http://www.iccuk.org/ (accessed on June 29, 2007).
108.
M. Helie-Lucas , “What Is Your Tribe? Women's Struggles and the Construction of Muslimness,” Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), Dossier 26, (London, 2004), 25-36.
109.
T. Modood , “Muslims and European Multiculturalism ,” Open Democracy (May 15, 2003). http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article.jsp?id=10&debateId=96&articleId=1214 (accessed on May 28, 2007).
110.
Groupe pour l'Abolition des Mutilations Génitales Féminines (GAMS), “Journée Technique d'Information sur les Mutilations Génitales Féminines (Actes)” ( Paris: GAMS, February 15, 1996).
111.
The GAMS was founded after the publication in the press of information on the death of African girls in France because of FGM. The work of this organization focuses on lobbying and advocacy, provision of training to health professionals, and production of educational material on health and FGM as well as primary prevention activities and consciousness-raising campaigns within African communities. These activities are carried out by African and French women, most of them doctors, sociologists, and interpreters with a feminist orientation. This organization collaborates with the Department for Women's Rights in its work on FGM and since 1998 with the European Commission's group of experts on the elimination of FGM.
112.
A. Raulin, Femme en Cause: Mutilations Sexuelles des Fillettes Africaines en France Aujourd'hui (Paris: Centre Fédéral [FEN] , 1987).
113.
Commaret, “Réquisitoire de Mme Commaret. Affaire Keita. Cour d'Assises de Paris, 6-8 Mars 1991,” Droit et Cultures, no. 21 ( 1991): 183-201.
114.
In her letter to A. Guiné, August 31, 2000, M.-H. Franjou argues, “The mothers listen very carefully [to] everything they are told about FGM, subject to the fact that the doctor, the midwife or the nurse has on her/his side a well informed and well positioned African woman about the danger of FGM. . . . When a mother has understood, I assure you that the result is effective! against the whole world! and that it is long-lasting.”
115.
A. Raulin, Femme en Cause: Mutilations Sexuelles des Fillettes Africaines en France Aujourd'hui (Paris: Centre Fédéral [FEN] , 1987).
116.
E. Leye, M. de Bruyn, and S. Meuwese, Proceedings of the Expert Meeting on Female Genital Mutilation, Ghent, Belgium, November 5-7, 1998.
117.
R. Verdier, “ Une Exciseuse en Cour d'Assises,” Droit et Cultures , no. 21 (1991): 183-201; and M. Erlich, La Femme Blessée. Essai sur les Mutilations Sexuelles Féminines ( Paris: l'Harmattan, 1986).
118.
In 1984, the Department for Women's Rights published “Les Mutilations du Sexe des Femmes Aujourd'hui en France.” In 1993, the regional delegation to the rights of women produced some information aimed at promoting and improving prevention programs, and several campaigns against FGM were organized.
119.
Groupe pour l'Abolition des Mutilations Génitales Féminines (GAMS), “Journée Technique d'Information sur les Mutilations Génitales Féminines (Actes)” ( Paris: GAMS, February 15, 1996).
120.
E. Leye, M. de Bruyn, and S. Meuwese, Proceedings of the Expert Meeting on Female Genital Mutilation, Ghent, Belgium, November 5-7, 1998.
121.
Quoted from letter sent by L. Weil-Curiel to A. Guiné, May 22, 2000.
122.
Quoted from letter sent by M.-H. Franjou to A. Guiné, August 31, 2000.
123.
M.-B. Dembour , “Following the Movement of a Pendulum: Between Universalism and Particularism,” in Culture and Rights: Anthropological Perspectives, ed. J. Cowan, M.-B. Dembour, and R. A. Wilson, 56-79 (Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001).
124.
F. Michel , “Excision: Une Femme d'Origine Mauritanienne Condamnée à 3 ans Avec Sursis,” Agence France Presse (AFP), Le Bouclier (March 5, 2003). http://archives.forum.chiennesdegarde.org/index.php?id=103173&action=moderation&lecture=101643 (accessed on June 26, 2007).
125.
M. Guichard , “France/Mali: Quand la France Ouvre la Route de l'Excision,” Libération, August 19, 2005.
126.
T. Lanquetin , “La Double Discrimination à Raison du Sexe et de la Race ou de l'Origine Ethnique,” Migrations Etudes, no. 126 (September 2004): 1-15; and M. Morokvasic and C. Catarino, “Mapping of Policies Affecting Female Migrants and Policy Análisis: The French Case ,” working paper no. 4-WP1. Integration of Female Immigrants in Labour Market and Society. Policy Assessment and Policy Recommendations. A Specific Targeted Research Project of the 6th Framework Programme of the European Commission, Université Paris X-CNRS (December 2006), 3-48.
127.
A. Phillips , Engendering Democracy ( Cambridge, UK: Polity, 1991).
128.
D. Plotke , “Democracy and Groups,” Social Research70, no. 2 (2003): 463-98.
129.
A. Phillips , “ Dilemmas of Gender and Culture: The Judge, the Democrat and the Political Activist,” in Minorities within Minorities. Equality, Rights and Diversity, ed. A. Eisenberg and Jeff Spinner-Halev , 113-34 (Cambridge , UK: Cambridge University Press , 2005).
130.
We use the definition of “autonomy” given by D. Plotke in “Democracy and Groups” (2003): “Autonomy includes both a practical capacity to make decisions and the power to consider alternatives fully even in the face of opposition from other groups.” In our case, it is the opposition of the most vulnerable members of a group from the gender power structures of the same group.
131.
A. Favell, Philosophies of Integration: Immigration and the Idea of Citizenship in France and Britain (London: Macmillan, 1998).
132.
M. Wieviorka , “Is Multiculturalism the Solution?” Ethnic and Racial Studies21, no. 5 (1998): 881-910.
133.
Among other initiatives, the Department of International Development (DFID) has recently committed £200,000 for two projects to be implemented in Nigeria and Gambia to prevent FGM, with the direct involvement of the British NGO FORWARD. See Commons Hansard, “Female Circumcision,” Parliamentary debate (London: The Stationary Office, March 23, 2000).
134.
D. Fassin, “ Peut-on Étudier la Santé des Étrangers et des Immigrés?” [Can We Study the Health Condition of Foreigners and Immigrants?]Plein Droit, no. 38 (1998). http://www.gisti.org/doc/plein-droit/38/sante.html (accessed on May 28, 2007).
135.
P. Abboud, F. Allag, G. Mansour, C. Quereux, and M. Zanardi, “ Stronger Campaign Needed to End Female Genital Mutilation,” British Medical Journal320 (April 22, 2000): 1153
136.
FORWARD, The Way Forward: Female Genital Mutilation in the UK. A Report of the Proceedings of the Inter-Agency / Non Governmental Organisations' Forum (London: FORWARD , 1997).
137.
Interview with S. Dirir by A. Guiné, February 25, 2002, London.
138.
J. Rex, Race and Ethnicity (Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press, 1986).
139.
R. Johansen , “FGM, an overview and research methods” (2006). http://www.gfmer.ch/Medical_education_En/PGC_RH_2006/pdf/FGM_Johansen_2006.pdf (accessed on June 29, 2007); N. Toubia, Female Genital Mutilation: A Call for Global Action (New York: Women Ink, 1993); Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE), “Recensement de la Population,” Première ( 2000):748, Paris; Home Office, “Persons Granted British Citizenship UK 2005,” Statistical Bulletin (September 2006); National Audit Office, “ Asylum and Migration: A Review of Home Office Statistics,” Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, HC 625, Session 2003- 2004 (May 25, 2004).
