RHCforFGC
Sharing actions and strategies for Respectful and equitable Health Care for women with FGC/M.
Topic: Sex, Gender and Health
Description:
RHCforFGC is one of 13 GENDER-NET Plus consortia. Six teams based in migrant-receiving countries namely Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Canada will focus on quality of care and prevention for women and girls who have experienced or may be at risk of female genital circumcision/mutilation (FGC/M).
Optimal, equitable and gender-sensitive health care to women and girls with or at risk of FGC/M is a challenge, more specifically in accessing health resources that meet their needs, which can be complex. Therefore, the objectives of this unique consortium are as follows :
To better understand the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of health care professionals (obstetricians, general practitioners, paediatricians, midwives, nurses, social workers and psychologists), especially in clinics that at-risk women and girls may attend;
To identify the extent to which current health care providers training packages are reflective of the perspective of women with experiences of FGC/M;
To better define and contextualize the level of potential risk of FGC/M for women and girls in respective countries and to identify community services in relation to potential needs of women in the community;
To compare and contrast laws in respective countries in order to identify if and to what extent the latter have contributed to change of behaviour among practicing communities in diaspora countries and of health care providers’ practices;
To provide an informative video developed with and for women on defibulation consistent with best practices in intercultural health literacy.
Résumé:
Le projet RHCforFGC représente l’un des 13 consortia du Réseau européen de recherche GENDER-NET Plus. Par le biais d’une approche transnationale entre la Belgique, l’Espagne, la France, la Suède, la Suisse et le Canada, ce projet vise à renforcer la prévention et la prise en charge des femmes et des filles à risque ou ayant été touchées par une mutilation génitale féminine/excision (MGF/E).
Ces femmes et ces filles sont souvent confrontées à des défis d’accessibilité à des ressources en santé adaptées à leurs besoins qui s’avèrent parfois être complexes. Ainsi, les objectifs de cet unique partenariat sont les suivants :
De mieux circonscrire les connaissances, les attitudes et les pratiques des professionnels de la santé et des services sociaux en regard aux MGF/E afin de donner des soins de qualité aux femmes et aux filles vivant des expériences d’immigration conjuguées à des particularités liées à leur santé et leur bien-être;
D’analyser les programmes d’information, de sensibilisation et de formation destinés aux professionnels de la santé et des services sociaux et ainsi renforcer la contribution des expériences des femmes et des filles à risque ou ayant été touchées par une MGF/E;
D’élaborer des modèles prédictifs d’estimation de prévalence sur une base transnationale pour prévenir et assurer une meilleure prise en charge;
De dresser un portrait de bonnes pratiques se basant sur les cadres juridiques en place dans les pays partenaires afin de prévenir et d’assurer une meilleure prise en charge respectant les dispositions légales ainsi que celles déontologiques des professionnels de la santé et des services sociaux;
D’élaborer, de mettre en place et d’évaluer une modalité d’information novatrice pour les femmes par le biais d’un clip-vidéo expliquant les étapes d’une désinfibulation.
Coordinator
Bilkis Vissandjée, PhD, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Countries
Belgium, Canada, France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
Partner Institutions
Canada
University of Montreal, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre, Médecins du Monde, McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Centre intégré universitaire de santé et des services sociaux du Centre-Ouest-de-l’île-de-Montréal, Centre intégré universitaire de santé et des services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l’île-de-Montréal, La Maison Bleue, Réseau d’action pour l’égalité des femmes immigrées et racisées du Québec (RAFIQ), Table de concertation des organismes ou services des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes (TCRI), Laval University, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), Statistics Canada, University of Toronto, Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, Uzima Women Relief Group International, Saint- Mary’s University, Halifax Refugee Clinic, University of Winnipeg, Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC), University of British Columbia, BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre.
Europe
France: Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University, Centre of Research in Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), Mouvement Français pour le Planning Familial, University of Côte d’Azur, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis
Belgium: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Groupe pour l’Abolition des mutilations sexuelles féminines (GAMS, Belgique), Groupement des Gynécologues-Obstétriciens de Langue Française de Belgique (GGOLFB), Centre Médical d’Aide aux Victimes de l’Excision (CeMAViE)
Sweden: Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, International Maternal and Child Health (IMCH) of Uppsala University
In collaboration with Switzerland, Department of Women-Children-Teenagers of Geneva University Hospitals and Spain, Fundación Wassu-UAB
Website
under construction
Contact
- Midterm Monitoring Workshop Presentation
- Azadi, B., Tantet, C., Sylla, F., & Andro, A. (2021). Women who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting’s perceptions and experiences with healthcare providers in Paris. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 24(4), 583–596.
- Essén, B., & Mosselmans, L. (2021). How to ensure policies and interventions rely on strong supporting facts to improve women’s health: The case of female genital cutting, using Rosling’s Factfulness approach. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 100(4), 579–586.
- O’Neill, S., Bader, D., Kraus, C., Godin, I., Abdulcadir, J., & Alexander, S. (2020). Rethinking the Anti-FGM Zero-Tolerance Policy: from Intellectual Concerns to Empirical Challenges. Current Sexual Health Reports, 12(4), 266–275.
- O’Neill, S., & Pallitto, C. (2021). The Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation on Psycho-Social Well-Being: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research. Qualitative Health Research, 31(9), 1738–1750.
- Florquin, S., & Richard, F. (2020). Critical Discussion on Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation and Other Genital Alterations. Current Sexual Health Reports, 12(4), 292–301.
- Hanberger, A., Essén, B., & Wahlberg, A. (2021). Attitudes towards comparison of male and female genital cutting in a Swedish Somali population. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 100(4), 604–613.
- Palm, C., Johnsdotter, S., Elmerstig, E., Holmström, C., & Essén, B. (2021). Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Counselling in Relation to Female Genital Cutting: Swedish Professionals’ Approach to Menstrual Pain as an Empirical Example. Sexuality & Culture, 26(1), 1–25.
- Essén, B. (2020). 11. Professionalism & practice: Safeguarding of best practices of genital examinations and equality before the law. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, 42(2), e20–e21.
- Johnsdotter, S., & Essén, B. (2020). Deinfibulation Contextualized: Delicacies of Shared Decision-Making in the Clinic. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50(5), 1943–1948.
- Essén, B. (2020b). One Genital, Two Judgments: Why Do “Expert Witnesses” Draw Different Conclusions in Suspected Cases of Illegal Cutting of Girls’ Genitals? In S. Johnsdotter (Ed.), Female Genital Cutting: The Global North and South (pp. 259–287). Malmö: Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies, Malmö University.
- Palm, C., Essén, B., & Johnsdotter, S. (2019). Sexual health counselling targeting girls and young women with female genital cutting in Sweden: mind–body dualism affecting social and health care professionals’ perspectives. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 27(1), 192–202.
- Wahlberg, A., Johnsdotter, S., Ekholm Selling, K., & Essén, B. (2020). Correction: Shifting perceptions of female genital cutting in a Swedish migration context. PLOS ONE, 15(2), e0229815.
- Cottler-Casanova, S., & Abdulcadir, J. (2021). Estimating the indirect prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting in Switzerland. BMC Public Health, 21(1).
- Lesclingand, M., Andro, A., & Lombart, T. (2019). Estimation du nombre de femmes adultes ayant subi une mutilation génitale féminine vivant en France. Bulletin Épidémiologique Hebdomadaire, 21, 392-399.
- INFORMATIVE VIDEO ON DEFIBULATION INTENDING TO PROVIDE DETAILED, SENSITIVE AND ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION FOR WOMEN ON THE PROCEDURE AND ASSOCIATED IMPLICATIONS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER.
- INFORMATIVE VIDEOS (IN FRENCH) ON FGC FROM A CLINICAL, LEGAL AND COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE, AS WELL AS FROM WOMEN’S PERSPECTIVES