ABSTRACT
The increase in movement away from Africa and a significant rise in female migrants means that female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is now present in contexts of migration and settlement. It can no longer be regarded as a tradition to be analyzed solely in the cultural and social contexts of origin, but rather as a practice relocated outside this setting, along with the beliefs and attitudes related to excision. This chapter presents the results of qualitative research conducted with 15 women asylum seekers from Nigeria resident in Perugia, Italy, who have undergone the cut. The study, using a transnational perspective and a gender-sensitive approach, explores the migration routes and lives of these women to understand how and if expatriation affects their opinions, attitudes, and meanings associated with FGM/C. Seven women successfully claimed international protection, aligned with existing measures under the Geneva Convention; they were accepted by the competent Italian authorities on grounds of well-founded fear of persecution if repatriated as a result of “belonging to a particular social group identified by the unchangeable characteristic of being [a] woman,” with particular reference to trafficking, sexual exploitation, and the recognition of FGM/C as an act of persecution.
