Changing Youth Attitudes Towards Female Genital Mutilation in Egypt

Leah Freij, PhDSenior Technical AdvisorThe Centre for Development and Population Activities

Presentation Overview

• Egyptian Context

• CEDPA’s Programs

• Lessons Learned

• Next Steps

Context

• High illiteracy rate – 70%

• High fertility rate – 1 in 5 married before 15

• High rate of female circumcision – 97%

CEDPA began working in Egypt in 1986:

New Horizons Program (1996-2004)

• Literate and illiterate girls (aged 9-20)

• Demystify and communicate reproductive health

• Basic life skills

• 62,582 girls completed the program

Non-formal education program for girls

Why a Boys’ Program?

“What about my father, brother and future husband? If they don't know these things, we will have difficulties getting our rights.”

– a girl from Qena

“How are we going to benefit and put this into action if men around us don't appreciate it? Can you please educate them?”

– a girl from Sohag

New Visions Program (2002-2004)

• Literate boys between 12-20

• Responds to boys distinct needs

• Communities where girls’ program was delivered

• Implemented in youth centers

• 13,895 boys completed program

Non-formal education for boys; complements girls’ program

New Horizons and New Visions Shared Objectives

• Improve the life-skills, self-confidence, social competence

• Increase knowledge on reproductive health

• Increase awareness on gender sensitivity

Sessions for Girls and Boys

MANUAL II• Health &

Nutrition• Life Skills• Work• Civil & Legal

Rights• Health Rights

• First Aid• Our Community• Environment• Planning for the Future

MANUAL I• Values• Human

emotions• Gender• Communication

s• Human

relations

• Marriage• Family• Puberty & Adolescence• Reproductive Health

Why a Community Involvement Program?

• Individuals and families are reluctant to abandon FGM

• Need an enabling environment for individuals to change behavior

Responded to results of New Horizons and New Visions program:

FGM Abandonment Program (2004-

2006) • Community mobilization program

• Identify at-risk girls, and those in immediate risk of being circumcised (9-12)

• Prevent families from following through with their intention

• 40 communities in 4 governorates

FGM Abandonment Program• Mobilize those who do not

practice FGM (positive deviants)

• Use personal solutions in community

• Conduct outreach activities within communities

• Home visits to families of girls at risk: track, monitor outcome of visits

General Programmatic Achievements

• Encouraged individuals to question practices taken for granted

• Introduced concept of rights-based gender equality

• Space for youth to shape notions of femininity and masculinity

• Favorable shift in gender relations

Evaluation Methods• Outcome Study (girls) –

Focus Group Discussion

• Quantitative – Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice Survey (boys)

• Qualitative Approach (boys)

• Retrospective Study

• Community Study (FGMAP)

Outcome Study, Girls

• Changing young women’s beliefs on FGM is difficult

• Girls/young women opposed to FGM intended to circumcise their daughters– Family and community pressure to maintain

social norms– Women’s complicity

• No facilitators will circumcise their daughters

Quantitative Study – Changes in Boys’ Attitudes

Likert-scaleBase Line

End Line

Minscor

e

Maxscor

e

% Increase

FGM – 3 items:(i) Preference to marry

(un)/circumcised woman

(ii) Benefits of FGM outweigh harms

(iii) Type of violence 5.1 6.8 2 8 27%Highest score is most favorable.

Results indicate that boys remain ambivalent around FGM

Voices of Stakeholders & Facilitators

“After I joined the program I realized that [FGM] constitutes physical violence because it involves the removal of a part of the female’s body.”

—Facilitator

“Not only were we convinced, we felt guilty. I remember by heart, the words of one religious leader at the seminar who said that ‘FGM is a cheap victory on a girls’ freedom.’”

—Director of Youth Center

Retrospective Study, Girls

– Women tended to be undecided reflecting power of social pressure

– Women from southern Egypt were more likely to circumcise their daughters than women from northern Egypt

– Reasons for circumcising daughters: religious, medical/hygienic, cultural reasons

Question: Do you intend to circumcise your daughter?

Retrospective Study, Boys

Two-item scale: 1. Some people believe that the advantages to

female circumcision outweigh the disadvantages

2. Some men would only marry a girl who has been circumcised

– 44.5% agreed and 20.6% strongly agreed with statements

– Boys in southern Egypt had more favorable attitude on FGM than boys in northern Egypt

FGM Abandonment Project Results• Resistance to/intentions not to circumcise

daughters depended on communities’ conservative nature

• Girls’ behavior/virtue is governed by upbringing and not circumcision

• Youth are vehicles for social change

• Young Muslim religious leaders played an important role

Lessons Learned

• Change can happen— but not easily

• Societal norms constrain men and women

• Degree of ambivalence differs among communities

• Understand women’s complicity

• Religious leaders and physicians influence community attitudes

Next Steps to Accelerate FGM Abandonment• Transparency in our work

• Multi-pronged approaches – stand alone and incorporated into existing programs

• Empower individuals and communities to challenge practice of FGM

• Political will at national and international level to continue funding FGM programs

Thank you!

Leah Freij, PhDSenior Technical AdvisorThe Centre for Developmentand Population Activities1133 21st Street, NWSuite 800Washington, DC 20036lfreij@cedpa.org

The Towards New Horizons Project was conducted with support from the U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT under the terms of USAID/Cairo Grant Number 263-G-00-00-00003-00. Female Genital Mutilation Abandonment Program (FGMAP) was funded under a grant by UNICEF Egypt (August 2004 - April 2006). The opinions stated in this presentation are those of the author and do not reflect those of our funders.