Introduction

This blog contributes to the narrative that highlights the 16 Days of Activism, and I share my thoughts at this opportune time as a researcher activist. I write on the backdrop of attending and presenting my research at the recently held Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRIForum2024) in Cape Town. The SVRI Forum is the world’s key research conference on violence against women, violence against children and other forms of violence driven by gender inequality in low and middle-income countries. It is the largest abstract driven conference dedicated to research on prevention of and response to violence against women in all their diversity and violence against children. The Forum is a vibrant, informative and safe space for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, donors, survivors and others to share and learn about new research, developments and innovations.

The Forum provided the opportunity to learn about national efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and children, and to understand intersectional experiences of violence in those regions. It was noteworthy to hear what development practitioners, researchers and activists are doing to scale up synergies in end sexual violence efforts in the regions represented at the forum. Most case studies highlighted the value that designing adaptable, locally relevant and scalable programmes could bring to the global effort to end sexual violence. With a vested interest in applied research, I have since embarked on a journey of reflection, to consider how this might apply in (my) research practice. Here I will share a few concerns that arise with that.

From learning at the SVRIForum2024, my understanding is that the solution to ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) lies in localised development. For a programme to be locally relevant there needs to be consensus within the community that first, there is a ‘problem’ and second, this identified ‘problem’ needs (outside) intervention. Of greater concern is the silence around the conceptualisation of type 4 FGM- labia elongation within the sexual violence discourse. In most contexts where it is practised, the procedure is considered harmless. This is supported by the World Health Organisation which declassified labia elongation from FGM/C type 4 category in 2008. Given these circumstances, how can we raise visibility of this practice and crucially how could we frame it as harmful considering the support that it wields?

Towards a unified approach in conceptualisations of ‘violence’ against women and girls

We have seen a shift in conceptualisations that ‘others’ forms of violence because they are perceived to happens in certain contexts where forms of VAWG are considered to be ‘cultural’ and therefore normal for those contexts. Whether it is perpetrated under the guise of culture, underpinned by social or cultural norms it is still violence. Although conceptualisations of violence can be subjective, we need to objectively seek to harmonise all our divergent views on what it entails in order to speed up the process of ending VAWG. We have a situation whereby young girls are sensitised into embracing patriarchal gendered roles that not only endorse male superiority but also denigrate the female body (Mutunami & Bradley, 2022).

During initiation rites such as labia elongation, they are advised that they will be divorced if their labia are not elongated, they will be divorced by their husbands and taught to endure abuse in marriage under the guise that marriage is a complex union and ‘things for them will improve’. Emphasis is often laid on the belief that marriage works only when the woman commits to the hard work necessary for it to work (Chireshe, 2015). Consequently, women persevere in marriages where the risk of HIV infection is ever present because male promiscuity is seen as a sign of masculine strength. The gendered norm that husbands own their wives through bride-price reduces the agency of women (and girls) to negotiate safe sex thereby increasing their risk to HIV infection (Mutanda & Rukonda, 2016). This reveals a nuanced link between a ‘cultural’ practice that women themselves at community level support, and the risk to further violence including the risk of HIV infection.

I would argue that any manual interference with a child’s genitalia to alter its natural look is for non- medical reasons amounts to violence (see also WHO, 2008). Such procedures are usually justified under cultural norms/ which legitimises these acts of violence under the impression that a cultural normative cannot be harmful. Indeed, culture is a resource that an individual can infinitely draw from, and it is arguably a vital component of one’s identity. However, when cultural dictates are imposed on the most vulnerable in society who may not be fully cognisant of the long-term impact of such undertakings it becomes a matter of moral consciousness for those with safeguarding responsibilities. That girls must acquiesce to a patriarchal ideology which devalues females, objectifying them to gratify men’s sexual desires and culturally endorsed hegemonic masculinities is a travesty to the progress towards gender transformation.

In order to raise visibility of this practice and its impact, what is missing is the audibility of local voices that conceptualise their experiences within the human rights narrative which, in my research context is not the case. In a context where narratives of culture, identity and pride are conflated and used to inform and shape one’s life experience it is difficult to envisage how labia elongation, a cherished practice, can be deemed harmful. What I argue for is the acknowledgement of the perversity and intersectionality of culturally- instigated violence against women and girls. We cannot continue to ignore the ways in which culture reinforces and normalises VAWG. The starting point is for those privileged groups in society, the ‘gatekeepers’ and ‘custodians’ of culture, to question what their influence could mean for the vulnerable groups within their sphere of influence. This includes the political economy of researchers, civil society, development and political actors. With communities, acknowledging the role cultural norms play in perpetuating gender inequality, and working with stakeholders to co-produce solutions taking into consideration any identified problematic aspects of their own culture, could mean that they are less likely to feel patronised in the process.

1. Civil society

The responsibility of feminist civil society in any given context is towards women and girls advocating for gender equality particularly improving their experiences of violence. Civil society in my research context is silent on labia elongation and neither do women’s advocacy groups necessarily consider it violence or harmful. It is framed as a cultural symbol of feminism, one that defines cultural ideals of gender identity, aesthetic and belonging; values that should not be questioned (Mutunami & Bradley, 2022). If civil society itself is divided over what constitutes violence, then how could governments be held accountable for policies that might be gender blind?

 Feminist advocates in development practice need to reach an agreement over what constitutes violence. I acknowledge that there might be differences within international feminism over aspects of violence however it is critical that all actors operate at the same wavelength beginning with a coherent definition of VAWG that accounts for ‘cultural’ violence. In my research context civil society has successfully lobbied the government over several issues of gender inequality which has resulted in improved and responsive legislative frameworks that are gender friendly. However, in a context where issues of national security and poverty are deemed critical, gender equality will not be prioritised.

2. Scholars

Labia elongation is not recognised as a form of genital mutilation. In a previous study to understand Zimbabwean women’s perceptions of the practice participants referred to it simply as ‘culture’, and not harmful (Mutunami & Bradley, 2022). A few other studies by ethnic scholars have explored labia elongation practices in Zimbabwe however they did not seek to understand any association with harm. A nominal increase on insider researchers leveraging their positionality to push for opportunities for deeper insightful research would be useful. They would draw on their contextual knowledge that could be useful for informing policy as it is that intersectional cultural dynamic to women and girls’ experiences of VAWG that is often lacking in research. To acknowledge that culture is causative of women’s experiences of violence would be counter-intuitive and contextualising axiological issues around subjectivities in culture and notions of identity we can see how those with influence might be silent on such issues.

We need objective empirical evidence on the impact of the phenomenon and to do this we first need to rethink cultural harm, and the ways in which it is fostered without engaging in contests of cultural superiority or ‘backwardness. The preoccupation with ‘cultural image’ in many contexts is the major barrier to gender transformation where those in positions of power and influence promote and support issues that are clearly forms of VAWG disguised as culture. Academics in the global south, specifically the sub-Saharan region need to speak up to these issues and interrogate aspects of their own culture and consider its role in shaping women and girls’ experiences of violence. This is by no means to suggest that researchers acknowledging (or not) this probability will be a magic bullet for addressing cultural harm. What would be helpful towards this is a major drive towards research capacity strengthening and collaboration among researchers, communities and practitioners, including civil society. We would then see synergies across levels of society.

3. Development practice

The impasse between what is considered Western values (supposedly ‘immoral’) imposed on ‘Others’ values (considered moral) is an old argument that has only served to limit what development practice can achieve in terms of addressing cultural violence. This becomes clear when the Western concept of violence and that of the ‘Other’ is reduced to a dichotomy between autonomy and individualism and belonging and identity. Should one’s identity and origin take precedence over their right to choice and entitlement? One could argue, to be able to identify and belong is more important than being independent and agentic to exercise choice, or vice versa. This would be a judgement call, if an adult individual is ‘autonomously’ seeking to make the choice.

Where it is perceived that an isolated individual (presumably exercising their individual rights) will not have an enabling support system to draw on in times of need, then it would be considered necessary to remain part of a homogeneous system where that much needed enabling environment is considered available. For decades critiques of cultural essentialism have dominated the gender-based violence discourse (Mohanty, 1988; Narayan, 1998). Similarly, programmatic designs have been carefully designed to be silent on the association between culture and violence. Furthermore, the widespread failure across the development sector to scrutinise the link between gender programming and dynamics in gender relations in women and girl’s lives has also contributed to the slow progress made in addressing gender inequality (Rosche, 2016). 

4. Political institutions

The development community holds consensus that gender equality is yet to be attained (Hankivsky & Hunting, 2022; Changachirere, 2019). The trajectory towards gender equality has seen multiple approaches and interventions rolled out across development sectors to address the phenomenon. An enduring legacy of the Beijing conference (UN, 1995), gender mainstreaming has been widely implemented since the 1990s and also widely critiqued. Governments across the globe have signed up to various national, regional and global conventions to end gender- based violence however women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by it. Interventions have yielded varying levels of success and gains have been made to reverse patterns of perpetration in some instances. The loss of political dimensions of gender in the course of mainstreaming; and its technical shortcomings is widely cited as part of its failure to deliver transformation (Caywood & Darmstadt, 2024). Equally, the gendered nature of organisations has long been touted as the cause of programmatic failure in addressing gender inequality (Lowndes, 2020). This transcends the socio-ecological model where men, at household and community levels maintain positions of power, legitimising and reinforcing women and girls’ subordinate positions, slowing the process of gender transformation.

Governments need to be gender aware and specifically, through policy, explore cultural aspects of gender norms and the ways in which they shape women and girls’ experiences of violence. Strong political will is therefore needed to support robust sustainable synergies that integrate policy with a commitment to gender transformation and ending VAWG, including labia elongation. Change for women and girls will be experienced when policymakers, development practitioners and civil society shift from siloed praxis, reach consensus on what constitutes VAWG and objectively leverage on their commitments to improve women and girls’ lives. Understanding the technologies of power that shape women and girls’ experiences of violence would help guide future feminist-friendly approaches.

Author

Patience Mutunami