Countries: Kenya
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"The services are in high demand over the December holidays, when the community traditionally perform the rite of passage. However, Covid affected the school calendar, making cutting patterns less predictable. With medicalisation, the practice has shifted from a group activity marked by public celebration to an individualised one. Rights groups say the trend has made it harder to monitor, and Unicef has termed medicalisation 'one of the greatest threats' to eliminating FGM" (para.6).

Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"According to the rules of the Taliban a boy over seven can be a mahram" (para 30).

Countries: China
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"Traditionally, Dulong women used to prick tattoos onto their faces when they reached 12 or 13 years of age. However, the custom was abolished after the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded in 1949. There are now around 30 Dulong women still alive with facial tattoos and experts state that this aspect of their culture may disappear very soon. According to the local police bureau, the youngest face-tattooed woman is 58 years old while the oldest is above 100"(para 3).

Countries: South Africa
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"Ritual circumcision of young males, often by medically unqualified practitioners, was still a prevalent initiation tradition in several provinces, particularly in Eastern Cape Province. Circumcisions took place at initiation schools, remote camps where traditional leaders led a multiweek riteof-passage ceremony. Circumcision, which sometimes resulted in death, was considered a precondition for adult status and permits marriage, inheritance, and other societal privileges" (36).

Countries: Namibia
Variables: SEGI-PRACTICE-1, IW-PRACTICE-1, DMW-PRACTICE-1, DMW-PRACTICE-2, PW-PRACTICE-3

"The Committee is concerned at the persistence of harmful practices, as well as discriminatory stereotypes and deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society. The Committee is particularly concerned at the lack of data on the extent of harmful practices such as widow inheritance, sexual initiation practices and polygamy. The Committee recalls its previous concluding observations (CEDAW/C/NAM/CO/3, paras. 16 and 17) and notes that the State party has not yet conducted a study on the extent of and prevalence of traditional harmful practices and on the impact of the implementation of the Traditional Authorities Act (No. 25 of 2000) and...more

Countries: Tanzania
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

“Girls from ethnic groups where initiation rites, female genital mutilation and traditional dances are widespread are more at risk of child marriage. By initiating girls into ‘womanhood’, these rituals are used to prepare girls for marriage. Once performed, marriage often quickly follows” (para 7). “The survey also sheds light on rituals specific to certain tribes. Among the Sukuma, for instance, when girls turn 12, they are taken to a traditional healer for medicine that will enhance their chances of attracting male partners” (para 8).

Countries: Malawi
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"And most shockingly, here in Nsanje, teenage girls, after their first menstruation, are made to have sex over a three-day period, to mark their passage from childhood to womanhood" (para 4). "An hour's drive down the road, I'm introduced to Fagisi, Chrissie and Phelia, women in their 50s and custodians of the initiation traditions in their village. It's their job to organise the adolescent girls into camps each year, teaching them about their duties as wives and how to please a man sexually. The 'sexual cleansing' with the hyena is the final stage of this process, arranged voluntarily by the girl's parents. It's necessary, Fagisi, Chrissie and Phelia explain, 'to...more

Countries: Tanzania
Variables: INFIB-PRACTICE-1, PHBP-PRACTICE-1, DMW-PRACTICE-2

"The ensuing samba ritual involves cutting cruciform nicks into the girl's chest and hands with a razor to not only help cleanse her of her bad luck, but to make her more attractive to older men" (para 10).

Countries: Ukraine
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

""There are no such practices here in Ukraine." Lada Usova" (16)

Countries: Kenya
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"The pain is from the razor blade without any medication. Those women who have shared their stories and from experience say that the pain from FGM is worse than that of giving birth because of the veins that are cut (in the clitoris). The girls are not prepared for the cut/ceremony. It’s not like the boys who are prepared by the whole community"(para 6)."Most of the girls go through the cut as a cultural practice and a rite of passage. They just know that they have to go through it. Many girls would like to say NO but only a few, so far, have succeeded to stay without being cut...more

Countries: Morocco
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"The formal rites of passage occur during the first fast after puberty. For girls to become women, traditional caftan clothes and kohl powder eyeliner. For boys to become men, they wear the traditional Djellaba" (12)

Countries: Bahamas
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

"There is no real 'rite of passage' for Bahamian males or females. A number of events in the Bahamian society usually qualifies a Bahamian male and female as an adult, these include: graduating from high school, getting a drivers’ license, voting, going to college, and holding a job. Men are still considered the 'head of the home'. Generally, women are submissive to their husbands, and men are expected to be dominant" (1)

Countries: South Africa
Variables: DSFMF-PRACTICE-4, DMW-PRACTICE-1, DMW-PRACTICE-2

“Ms. Safiatu Singhateh observed that FGM/C in southern Africa presents itself in different ways. These practices are described by WHO as Type IV. Stretching of the clitoris and/or the labia using various means is one of the practices. The elongation of the clitoris and the labia minora is common in central and southern African regions. The manner in which this is done varies from country to country, some of which are equally hazardous to health. Another practice is the introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina with the aim of tightening or narrowing. This may or may not be a rite of passage, but it is common throughout...more

Countries: Kenya
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

“It emerged that most of the respondents believed that FGM changes the status of girls in their communities from being young girls to young women who are eligible to be married. The majority believed that uncircumcised girls are unable to cook, clean, and are unsure of how to act as women” (8).

Countries: Lesotho
Variables: DMW-PRACTICE-2

“Circumcision among males is practiced in many communities in Lesotho and often serves as a rite of passage to adulthood. This is confirmed by the 2009 LDHS, which shows that 52 percent of men age 15-59 in Lesotho are circumcised and only 4 percent were circumcised when younger than age 13” (xxiii). “Table 12.11 shows that 52 percent of men age 15-49 in Lesotho are circumcised. Men age 15-19 are the least likely to have been circumcised (27 percent) compared with older men (about six in ten men). This could indicate a decline in the practice, although it is also possible that some young men may not yet have gone...more