One of the first Female circumcision (FC) cases to be prosecuted in the U.S. occurred in Atlanta, GA in 2006. In this case an Ethiopian man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for circumcising his infant daughter. This case illustrates some of the cultural and legal dilemmas immigrants can encounter who reside in the U.S. where FC is outlawed. That is, immigrants must choose between complying with their cultural practice of FC or the anti-female circumcision laws, where either choice could have equally unfavorable outcomes.
This dissertation employed the case study approach to describe immigrant women’s perceptions and attitudes, about FC as well as their awareness and knowledge about policies that outlaw this practice. The major research question posed for this dissertation is: Do African immigrant women currently living in the U.S., who come from communities that practice FC, encounter cultural and legal dilemmas? Interviews were conducted with nine female participants who currently reside in the U.S. Most of the participants reported that they were against the practice of FC. Majority of the participants were aware of and experienced some of the physical and psychological problems associated with this practice. All of the participants were aware policies in the U.S. exist that outlaw FC. However, none of them could identify specifics about these regulations or punishments related to the policies. Some of the participants believed that policies in the U.S. that outlaw FC were ineffective because they were poorly enforced or not enforced at all while some of the participants felt that knowledge about specific laws may deter African immigrants from practicing FC in the U.S. A large proportion of the participants indicated that FC was a culturally endorsed practice that occurs in the U.S. where it has been outlawed. The participants experience different types of cultural and legal dilemmas related to FC while residing here in the U.S.