5. The use of ethnicity in the consideration of FGC prevalence and social change

Abstract

Ever since the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), followed by the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), began reporting the prevalence of female genital cutting (FGC) by ethnicity in its national survey reports, researchers have recognized that FGC prevalence varies widely with ethnicity everywhere except in countries with very high prevalence. In countries where FGC prevalence among some ethnic groups is less than 5% and more than 80% in others, does that contrast also appear in the individual responses to questions about FGC? In a time of increasing social mobility and inter-ethnic marriages, how should we consider the role of ethnicity in our discussions of prevalence among immigrant women, or in our promotion of FGC abandonment? This paper examines evidence of individual ideas about FGC in DHS data to see how closely other factors follow ethnicity and to consider if ethnicity is mainly a label we have constructed for easy classification, or does it represent a coherent collection of ideas about FGC.