Embodiment, Pain, and Circumcision in Somali-Canadian Women

• Main Author: Glazer, Emily
• Other Authors: Einstein, Gillian
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: pain; women's health; female genital cutting; immigration and health; biocultural; 0317; 0566; 0453; 0621
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/32573

Female genital cutting/circumcision/mutilation (FGC) is found predominantly in the Sahel, Northern Africa, removing parts/all of the clitoris, labia minora and majora in girls. Cutting the highly innervated external genitalia may change sensory processing leading to chronic pain. Fourteen Somali women in the Greater Toronto Area (21-46, Type III FGC) completed qualitative, quantitative and psychophysical methods to evaluate pain. Interviews analyzed by interpretive phenomenology form the core method, examining circumcision stories and present, embodied life. The second Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire and quantitative sensory testing with a vulvalgesiometer form secondary components. Somali women with FGC have pain-filled stories about circumcision and daily life. Socio-cultural considerations are central for women to comprehend how their own bodies feel. SF-MPQ-2 indicates low intensity or no pain symptoms; however, many body regions were indicated. QST reveals low vulvar pressure-pain thresholds. Reports from three measures suggest that FGC may cause sensory changes including chronic pain.