Female Genital Cutting: A Panel Discussion

Based on her research in Ethiopia, Marit Tolo Østebø (University of Florida/University of Bergen) will talk about the role of religious leaders in interventions that seek to eradicate ‘Female Genital Mutilation’ (FGM).
This will be followed by a roundtable discussion with the audience, and a panel consisting of Marit Tolo Østebø, Jeff Balch (Director of research and evaluation at the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa) and Zahra Naleie (project leader Federation of Somalian Associations in the Netherlands).

Lecture by Marit Tolo Østebø: Are religious leaders a silver bullet in the global Fight against ‘Female Genital Mutilation’?

NGOs and state actors increasingly involve religious leaders in interventions that seek to eradicate ‘Female Genital Mutilation’ (FGM). According to reports from NGOs and UN-bodies, the inclusion of religious leaders in anti-FGM interventions, has led to the abandonment of the practice in a number of areas. Many reports claim that whole communities and districts collectively have denounced FGM. Religious leaders are often reported to play a key role in these public declarations. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Ethiopia, this lecture provides a critical analysis and discussion of the use and the role of religious leaders in anti-FGM interventions. Taking into account historical, political and religious particularities in the Ethiopian context, the paper sheds light on a number of challenges associated with these interventions, and illustrates that the realities on the ground are often far more complex than the NGO and UN reports indicate.