Transnational migration involves adjustment to a new set of norms, also on the level of the body. Migration to Sweden from conflict ridden African and Middle Eastern countries where female genital cutting (FGC) is prevalent raises new questions about bodily norms and integrity, well-being, and health care needs, as migrant and local populations grapple with social identification, gender roles and conflicts in body perceptions. A positive marker of womanhood in FGC-practicing communities, FGC is criminalised and ostracised in Sweden. Recently, the relatively new surgical/medical practice of clitoral reconstruction (CR) is made available for FGC-affected women in Sweden. While growing in popularity, little is known about what motivates women to seek out this surgery or the socio-cultural dimensions involved. Furthermore, CR is controversial as it concerns sensitive issues such as women’s sexuality, ethnic minorities, ethnocentrism, racism, western moralizing attitudes towards Muslim and African practices, histories of imperialism and violence on the African continent, and fear of conflict in many European countries when touching upon sensitive, racialized issues. This study aims to explore the meaning of FGC and CR in socio-cultural, bodily, and socio-political terms, and is based on qualitative interviews with 21 immigrant women asking for CR surgery in Sweden. Preliminary results indicates that women perceive their genitals as sexually incapable, deformed, and abnormal, something that evoke distress and shame. They seek surgery to become normal and equal to the host population in terms of sexual self and self-esteem and to take control over their body and becoming sexually agentic. These results raise new questions regarding the extent to which the Swedish health care should prioritise health care needs specific to immigrants, how to engage with cut women and what to offer, and whether or not CR should be considered a human (or citizen) right.

Malin Jordal (Uppsala University, Sweden) is a PhD with experience in the field of International Public Health. She is currently employed as a teacher and university lecturer at the Center for Gender Research working on a qualitative project on women’s motives, expectations and experiences of clitoral reconstructive surgery in Sweden.

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