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Female Genital Mutilation: dancing through
Carol Victoria Jaffier ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a personal and professional reflection on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), written by a psychotherapist specializing in dance and embodiment. The author describes experiencing FGM ceremonies in The Gambia and explores the psychological and physical impacts of FGM on young women. The work frames FGM as gendered violence and notes recent political action against the practice, including a ban by Liberia's former president in 2017.
Key points
- The author witnessed FGM ceremonies involving 'Bondo Devils' in Gambian villages of Albreda and Juffureh
- FGM is characterized as removing an important part of girls' sexuality and their journey into womanhood
- The term 'Female Genital Mutilation' was conceived by Fran Hosken in 1976 to frame the practice as gendered violence
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia, banned FGM on her last day in office in 2017
- The author, as a psychotherapist, is interested in whether dance and embodiment can support healing from FGM-related anxiety and depression
Limitations
This is a reflective essay rather than empirical research, so it provides no quantitative data, outcome measurements, or evaluation of any intervention. It describes the author's questions and interests rather than answering them through systematic study.
Abstract
My interest in Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) began a few years ago.My mother and I 'retraced our roots', and spent some time in the villages of Albreda and Juffureh in The Gambia, West Africa.There was singing, dancing and the drinking up of our newly re-acquainted culture.Amongst the sound of drums and singing voices, we experienced beautifully executed rhythmic movements and I saw two men appear dressed in elaborate frightening costumes brandishing menacing knives.We learnt later that day, that the men in costume were in fact Bondo Devils who play a role in ceremony surrounding the circumcision of young girls.I asked why, how can this happen, how do the women live without an important part of their physical selves?Dr Beatrice Allegranti, a writer on the topic of embodied feminism remarked, 'we re-shape and re-configure our gendered sexual selves during adolescence'.I was curious, what does this mean for the young women who have had part of their sexuality removed, forever unable to experience an important, transforming part of their emotional and physical journeys into womanhood.I was also aware that day, that the experience of female circumcision could have been mine, if not for my ancestors' forced migration, decisions would have been made about how I would forever experience my body without my consent.As a psychotherapist specialising in dance and embodiment, I wanted to ask a question 'Is it possible for women who have undergone female genital mutilation in the UK to gain healing through embodiment and dance when faced with anxiety and depression?' Fran Hosken conceived the term Female Genital Mutilation in 1976 and she was somewhat of a driving force in encouraging western feminists to speak out about the practice of FGM, which perpetrated gendered violence against womxden and girls.Feminism is a political movement that acknowledges the personal as political and what could be more personal than our own bodies.With Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia banning FGM on her last day in office in 2017, and politicians in several African countries taking an interest in the practice of FGM, it is also now a political concern, in the sense of governmental policies politics (The Female Genital Mutilation: Dancing through Carol Victoria Jaffier