Welcome to the resource hub. Here you can find summaries of journal articles and other resources on Alternative Rites of Passage, including links to the original publications. Feel free to contact hannelore.vanbavel@bristol.ac.uk with any questions you may have
Title: Rites and wrongs: are we going the right way about ending FGM?
Authors: Lotte Hughes and Katy Newell-Jones
Type of publication: Non-academic story in online magazine The Elephant, based in Nairobi
This story is non-academic, but based on academic research. The authors (one an academic, the other a development practitioner) ask whether anti-FGM/C strategies are working, particularly in relation to ARP in Kenya. The story starts by briefly mentioning how COVID and school closures have impacted negatively on anti-FGM/C strategies. It describes FGM/C, the laws against it in Kenya, and the incidence of the practice. It goes on to describe ARP, and lists its common components, while also making the point that there is no standard model. There is a section on ARP training, and another on the final public ceremony; the authors argue that the training is much more important than the ceremony. They claim that ‘the training sessions, when combined with longer-term community sensitisation and other measures that form an integrated multi-pronged approach, are vital if attitudes and behaviour are to change’.
There is little hard evidence, they say, that ARP actually achieves its stated aims. The story goes on to discuss the challenges and weaknesses of ARP, what seems to work and what doesn’t, and asks when is ARP likely to be most effective? It makes the point that ARP can be highly divisive in communities. The authors discuss some contradictions in the ARP guidelines of the Anti-FGM Board of Kenya. They end by calling for more research on ARP, more hard evidence, and for more involvement of young people in the whole process.
Title: Alternative Rites of Passage in FGM/C abandonment campaigns in Africa: A research opportunity
Authors: Laurence Droy, Lotte Hughes, Mark Lamont, Peter Nguura, Damaris Parsitau, Grace Wamue Ngare
Type of publication: Online working paper, University of Leicester, UK
Link: https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/lias/article/view/2820/2628
This paper came out of a workshop on ARP in Africa held at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Leicester, on 9 March 2018. The workshop brought together scholars, students, health practitioners and NGO representatives from the UK and Kenya to discuss plans for a collaborative research group. Unfortunately, funding was not forthcoming and these plans were aborted.
The paper is in two parts: an article, and a Review of ARP Evaluation Studies in an appendix. It starts from the premise that ARP is highly under-researched. It explores some potential questions and lines of enquiry for future research. It also challenges the assumption, in the small body of existing literature, that ARP is a relatively successful component of FGM/C eradication campaigns in Africa. It focuses largely on Kenya, but refers to other parts of Africa where relevant. The authors see ARP as ‘a hybridised cultural assemblage that forms part of new cultural and relational processes’.
The paper starts by defining FGM/C, and describes its prevalence in Kenya, before discussing the wider significance of initiation. The importance of these wider aspects is too often overlooked in the anti-FGM/C campaigns that centre only on stopping ‘the cut’. The authors suggest that more attention should be paid to these wider aspects in the design and practice of ARP. They describe how ARP was developed in Kenya, and its most common components. There is a section on the deeper kinship context of FGM/C and ARP. The paper discusses what methodology could be used in future research, and ethical considerations. It lists potential topics for future research, and provides a select bibliography. The Appendix focuses on more substantive mentions of ARP in the literature, and does not claim to be an exhaustive review.
Title: Lessons learned from implementing alternative rites in the fight against female genital mutilation/cutting
Authors: Ernst Patrick Graamans, Tara Rava Zolnikov, Eefje Smet, Ngatia Nguura, Lepantas Charles Leshore, Steven ten Have
Type of publication: Journal article. Published in the Pan African Medical Journal (February 2019). Vol. 32, Article 59: pages 1-12.
DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2019.32.59.17624
Link: https://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/32/59/full
This article reflects on the lessons learned by Amref Health Africa since it began using ARP as a strategy in its anti-FGM/C work in 2007. The researchers (a mix of scholars and practitioners) conducted 94 formal interviews with members of Maasai and Samburu communities in Kenya, and had more informal discussions with a wide range of people including donors, activists, local government officials and members of other NGOs. Research methods also included participant observation and desk research.
The article starts by describing ARP and explaining what it means. It notes the oversimplification of what ARP is intended to achieve. It describes how Amref has designed and implemented ARP, through a ‘trial-and-error process’. It examines the qualitative data the research team collected through a public health and change management lens. Lessons learned include the understanding that ARP should be viewed as a fluid process, in which changes are constantly being made, evaluated and presented. Other topics discussed include the policing of FGM/C, the suspicion in many communities of perceived outsider interference, male involvement in ARP, and the role of religion in ARP.
The authors conclude that changing a culturally-embedded practice such as FGM/C is inherently complex. Because the cultural meanings ascribed to the practice are also evolving, interventions that may be effective now might become superfluous in the future. The article suggests that a ‘holy grail approach to change simply does not exist’, and that more research is needed on the effects, side-effects, design and implementation of ARPs.
Title: Understanding different positions on female genital cutting among Maasai and Samburu communities in Kenya: A cultural psychological perspective
Authors: Ernst Graamans, Peter Ofware, Peter Nguura, Eefje Smet and Wouter ten Have
Type of publication: Journal article. Published in Culture, Health & Sexuality (April 2018): pages 1-16.
Link: https:/doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2018.1449890
This article is not about ARP, but provides a useful summary of the different approaches currently being taken to end FGM/C, and in understanding the reasons why people choose to practise FGM/C or not. It should be read in conjunction with a 2019 paper by some of the same authors, ‘Lessons learned from implementing alternative rites in the fight against female genital mutilation/cutting’ (Graamans et al.), which is based on the same set of data.
The researchers gathered qualitative data from Maasai and Samburu communities in Kenya, using methods that included interviews and participant observation. The article starts with an introduction to FGM/C, and goes on to outline the theoretical background to the agreements, conventions and arrangements that make people feel they belong to a particular group. Examining feelings of belonging is key to understanding behavioural patterns that include FGM/C. The authors use discourse analysis to map what they call ‘social arrangements’ – the social set-up in which FGM/C (and all other behaviours) take place in any community. They identify seven types of discourse around FGM/C, some of which overlap, and discuss these in terms of exploring opportunities for change.
The paper develops an analytical framework, based on discourse analysis, that engages with FGM/C in an integrated way. The authors assert that one-sided approaches to ending FGM/C do not work, and this includes ARP, awareness campaigns, legislation and economic incentives. They call for more contextually developed approaches and the design of holistic interventions.
Title: Alternative Rites of Passage: Faith, rights and performance in FGM/C abandonment campaigns in Kenya
Author: Lotte Hughes
Type of publication: Journal article
African Studies (2018), Vol. 77, No. 2: pp.274-292.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2018.1452860
This article discusses and critiques a variety of ARPs run by NGOs in Kenya. The wider context is constitutional change in 2010 that introduced the concept of cultural rights to Kenyan citizens, while simultaneously outlawing harmful cultural practices. The author notes that the meaning of culture is rarely defined either by external or internal actors involved in ARP, yet notions of culture are central to both the ceremonial and educational elements of ARP. Both these elements are described in detail. Hughes sees ARP as a form of social engineering, and as a newly-invented ritual that aims to replicate or mimic certain aspects of traditional initiation, but without the physical cut. Particular attention is paid to the sometimes problematic role of Christian faith leaders in ARP, especially those organised by Christian NGOs. Their role is essentially cultural, but is not regarded as such by the players concerned. The author draws parallels between ARP and Christian conversion, especially ‘born again’ Pentecostal. The article examines the contradictory mixed messaging that can feature in the teaching of initiates, and questions whether biblical messages of the ‘fire and brimstone’ kind, and an emphasis on promising girls that ARP will lead to high achievement and material rewards, are helpful. The author questions whether ARP is entirely ‘harmless’, as its proponents claim. She does not discuss the effectiveness of ARP, and did not set out to do so.
Title: The “Loita Rite of Passage”: An Alternative to the Alternative Rite of Passage?
Author: Hannelore Van Bavel
Type of publication: Journal article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2021.100016
This article explores the ‘Loita Rite of Passage’ (LRP), an ARP developed by SAFE Maa and the Maasai community of the Loita Hills in Narok county, Kenya. The article starts with a historical overview of ARP in Kenya, starting with the ARP of MYWO and PATH. Based on a review of academic literature on ARPs, the second part identifies common elements of ARPs, including weaknesses:
- ARPs do not simply replace the cut: they are newly invented ceremonies organised by NGOs, consisting of human rights and women’s empowerment training and, in some cases, Christian elements.
- Most ARPs aim to end the cut, but also child marriage and school drop-out among girls
- Because ARPs are so different from ‘traditional’ initiation rites, they can make communities suspicious of outsider interference.
- Because ARPs are often designed and implemented by NGOs (rather than developed by the community itself), they do not necessarily reflect the priorities and aspirations of the community. Furthermore, one model does not fit all communities: e.g. most ARPs end in a public graduation ceremony. While such a public event is appropriate for certain ethnic groups, it is less so for e.g. Maasai sections for whom a girl’s initiation is a more private family event.
- Some studies found that girls had already been cut before participating in an ARP or were still cut after graduating through an ARP (suggesting that communities do not accept ARPs as an appropriate replacement for the cut).
- ARPs were said to not be sustainable due to the high costs of organising public graduation events.
The article then continues to identify ways in which the LRP differs from other ARPs:
- The LRP was developed in close collaboration with traditional birth attendants (TBA, ex-circumcisers) and other community members.
- As a result, the authority to initiate girls (and the status and revenue that come with it) remains with the TBAs.
- The initiation ritual remains exactly the same. The only difference is that the cut is replaced by pouring milk (a symbol of cleansing and fertility) over the thighs of the initiate.
- Because the initiation ritual remains exactly the same, the teaching that girls receive remains in the hands of the women of her family and is thus not tailored by SAFE Maa.
- The LRP does not have any Christian elements. Instead, it continues to use elements from Maasai spiritual belief that centre on the deity Eng’ai.
- Because there is no public graduation, there are also no additional costs. The costs of an LRP are the same as the costs of the ‘traditional’ ceremony and are shared by the family and their guests who contribute through gifts such as milk, tea, and sugar.
- Finally, because there is no public graduation ceremony with goodies and food, there is also no direct material incentive to participate in the LRP. This seems to increase the chance that families opt for the LRP because they support it.
The article then continues to emphasise that SAFE Maa’s approach is much more than ‘just’ an ARP: the LRP is only one element in a much larger programme consisting of community sensitisation through song performances and workshops, continuous dialogue with community members, and the flexibility to adapt to new challenges. This raises the question as to whether ARP should be considered an approach in itself, or rather a tool that can be used when a more comprehensive approach has made a community ready to consider alternative ways of initiating girls.
Title: An assessment of the alternative rites approach for encouraging abandonment of female genital mutilation in Kenya
Authors: Jane Njeri Chege, Ian Askew and Jennifer Liku
Type of publication: Study report of research funded by USAID. Published by FRONTIERS in Reproductive Health and the Population Council.
Link: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnacm865.pdf
This study examined ARPs run by the Kenyan women’s NGO Maendeleo ya Wanawake (MYWO) since 1996. These ARPs are often referred to in the literature as the first ARPs in Kenya (and MYMO is no longer running any so far as we know). The researchers studied ARPs organised by MYWO, with support from PATH, in three districts (Tharaka, Narok and Gucha) and among four ethnic groups. Research methods included interviews, focus group discussions, a household survey and case studies of families that had participated in an ARP.
The study briefly traces the history of attempts in Kenya to end FGM/C, and describes how ARP developed here. It describes the components of ARP, including details of the MYWO curriculum. It found that parents choosing ARP for their daughters tend to be more likely to have had schooling; more likely to be church-goers; less likely to be labourers; more likely to be of higher socio-economic status; and more likely to have already decided not to cut. It emphasises the importance of sensitisation activities that accompany ARPs, which are critical for creating the conditions in which ARP can be introduced.
The study concludes that the contribution an ARP intervention can make to efforts to abandon FGM/C depends on the socio-cultural context in which FGM/C is practised. For the approach to be replicated successfully elsewhere, it will require a good understanding of the role of public (as opposed to familial) ceremonies in the culture concerned, and a judgement as to what form the ritual should take in order to encourage people who have decided to abandon the cut to actually do so.