Female Circumcision Practices: Perception on Methods used to Disseminate Anti-Fc Messages

Abstract

This paper looks at the Gogo’s perception of methods used to disseminate anti-female circumcision messages in the Gogo community during campaigns to eradicate female circumcision. The paper was impelled by the fact that efforts to eliminate female circumcision (FC) practices among the Gogo community have not been very successful. The paper uses the Social Constructionist Theory to unveil what happens when anti-female circumcision intervention methods encounter the lived experience of the Gogo in terms of uptake of intervention messages. The paper is based on data generated during a PhD research which was done in Mpwapwa District using a qualitative design in 2014. The paper argues that the uptake of anti-FC campaigns is low because the methods used to campaign against female circumcision take little, if any, account of the local knowledge context in which female circumcision occurs. The paper underscores that the inclusion of the local discourse in crafting the anti-FC intervention methods is very important if the uptake is to be improved. The paper recommends that for anti-FC messages to have the desired impact, the designing of the methods to disseminate anti-FC messages need to take into account the local knowledge which guides the Gogo life.