ABSTRACT
Part field research and part autoethnography, this chapter investigates the current state of FGM in Singapore, a practice seldom openly discussed there. It began with claims about British citizens taking daughters to Singapore to get cut. These rumors led me to co-organize Singapore’s first FGM conference with the NGO AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research). My investigations included recording undercover videos of medical personnel who offered to cut my imaginary daughter. The cost of what appears to be type 1 or type 1a was around US$15. Moreover, I conducted the first ever survey of FGM among Singapore’s Muslim women, showing 85 of 119 queried are FGM survivors and, in multicultural Singapore, not all of them were Malay. The Singapore government, although secular, funds the Islamic Council and also appoints the national Mufti who issues fatwas. The Islamic Council is said to have openly advocated for FGM, although words to that effect have since been erased from its website.
