Shifting perceptions of female genital cutting in a Swedish migration context

BACKGROUND: The aim of this paper was to investigate correlations between Somali Swedish own attitudes towards female genital cutting (FGC) and their perceptions about other Swedish Somalis attitudes. METHODS: In 2015, a cross-sectional study was conducted in four Swedish municipalities with 648 Somali men and women. To assess the level of agreement between the participants’ approval of FGC and their perceptions about approval among other Swedish Somalis, Bangdiwala’s B-statistic and Welch’s t-test were used. RESULTS: We found a substantial agreement between an individual’s own approval of FGC and their perceived approval of FGC among most other Swedish Somali men (B-statistic = 0.85) and women (B-statistic = 0.76). However, we also found a tendency for participants to report that other Swedish Somalis–and especially other Swedish Somali women–approved of FGC, while they themselves did not. Perceived percentage of Somali girls being circumcised in Sweden was significantly higher among Swedish Somalis who said they wanted tissue to be removed on their own daughter (mean 23%, 95% CI: 18.3–27.9) compared to those who said they opposed removal of tissue on their own daughter (mean 8%, 95% CI: 6.4–9.1). The majority of Swedish Somali men (92%) stated a preference to marry someone without FGC or with pricking, which was also the view of most of the Swedish Somali women (90%). CONCLUSIONS: Swedish Somalis motivation to continue or discontinue with the practice of FGC may be influenced by perceptions of what other Swedish Somalis prefer. How FGC is being portrayed, in for example media reports, could therefore have an impact on attitudes towards FGC.