The meaning of clitoral reconstruction (CR) and female genital cutting among immigrant women asking for CR surgery in Sweden

Female genital cutting or mutilation refers to the cutting of girls’ external genitalia. Due to migration from contexts where female genital cutting is common, it is estimated that around 38 000 cut women and girls live in Sweden. Clitoral reconstruction, a relatively new form of surgical healthcare offered to women with female genital cutting, was established in Sweden in 2014. This surgery aims at restoring clitoral function and anatomy, but there is yet a dearth of evidence demonstrating the effects of the surgery. The aim of this study was to explore how women undergoing clitoral reconstruction in Sweden between 2016 and 2019 experienced the surgical process and its aftereffects from a physical, sexual and psychosocial perspective. Eighteen women who had undergone clitoral reconstruction at a university hospital in Sweden agreed to participate in the study. The women were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, which were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The results, based on self-categorization and labelling theory, demonstrated both benefits and disappointments following the surgery. Several women reported positive outcomes in terms of sexual, psychosocial and aesthetic terms. They experienced reduced genital pain, improvements in their sex lives, and a sense of feeling more empowered and at ease in their bodies. Yet, some women reported aesthetic, functional and process-related disappointment related to clitoral reconstruction. Nonetheless, the women expressed gratitude for the possibility of undergoing the surgery. In conclusion, the women reported that they experienced physical, sexual and psychosocial benefits of the surgery.

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Clitoral reconstruction: Understanding changing gendered health care needs in a globalized Europe

European Journal of Women s Studies ◽

10.1177/1350506817742679 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 154-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Malin Jordal ◽

Gabriele Griffin

Keyword(s):

Female Genital Cutting ◽

Health Care Needs ◽

Care Needs ◽

Initial Attempt ◽

Surgical Interventions ◽

Economic Entity ◽

Clitoral Reconstruction ◽

Genital Cutting ◽

Experienced Female ◽

Female Genital

The migratory flows of recent decades that have exercised Europe as a socio-political and economic entity have produced extensive responses and interventions from European gender scholars. One relatively recent phenomenon in this context is the question of reparative surgical interventions, specifically clitoral reconstruction, in cases where women who have migrated to Europe have experienced female genital cutting. Clitoral reconstruction, which this article begins to explore, is recent in part because the related surgery was only established in the 1990s and is to date only practised in a few European countries, and in part because the research with women who ask for and have undergone such surgery has also only recently begun. This article is therefore an initial attempt to map some of the related terrain and to suggest further work that needs to be done in this increasingly important area.

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Female genital cutting

International Social Work ◽

10.1177/0020872809342642 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 52 (6) ◽

pp. 727-741 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Khadija Khaja ◽

Carenlee Barkdull ◽

Marva Augustine ◽

Dianne Cunningham

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Study ◽

North American ◽

Immigrant Women ◽

Intervention Strategies ◽

Female Genital Cutting ◽

Prevention And Intervention ◽

Women's Experiences ◽

American Immigrant ◽

Genital Cutting ◽

Female Genital

English The purpose of this qualitative study with 17 Somali-born North American immigrant women was to better understand the women’s experiences with and views of female genital cutting (FGC), as well as their recommendations for developing more effective, inclusive and respectful prevention and intervention strategies for the practice. French La finalité de cette étude qualitative menée auprès de 17 femmes immigrantes nord américaines nées en Somalie était de mieux comprendre les expériences des femmes, leurs opinions à propos de l’excision, ainsi que leurs recommandations pour développer des stratégies de prévention et d’intervention plus efficaces, inclusives, et respectueuses pour la pratique. Spanish El propósito de este estudio cualitativo de 17 mujeres nacidas en Somalia que emigraron a los EEUU es comprender mejor las experiencias y visiones de estas mujeres en relación a la mutilación de genitales femeninos (FGC, por sus siglas en inglés), así como también sus recomendaciones para el desarrollo de estrategias de prevención e intervención más efectivas, inclusivas y respetuosas a la hora de realizar dicha práctica.

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