Project summary
The structure and function of the brain is influenced by the context of people’s lives, especially sex and gender. These influences include hormones and genes, as well as culture, social environment and personal life experiences. In turn, these factors can influence our health and successful aging.
This is a community-based study being run by Uzima Women International to explore Female Genital Cutting (FGC) among African women in Toronto. The goal is to understand to what extent the health concerns and issues women are experiencing may be barriers to accessing the reproductive health care they need. The project uses a culturally-appropriate approach to engage women with FGC in the investigation in order to determine the best methods to help reduce the ignorance about FGC. We will also work with the women and communities to reduce the stigma associated with the practice. It is anticipated that this project will generate recommendations that will help improve the health of women in the participating communities as well as the wider Canadian society.
Project status
We are currently recruiting study participants who meet these criteria:
- Woman 18 years old and over
- Family origin from a country that practices Female Genital Mutilation
For information about participating, please contact Danielle Jacobson at 416 978 6582 or dani.jacobson@mail.utoronto.ca
Publications
Jacobson, D., Glazer, E., Mason, R., Duplessis, D., Blom, K., Du Mont, J., Jassal, N., & Einstein, G. (2018). The lived experience of female genital cutting (FGC) in Somali-Canadian women’s daily lives. PLOS One 13(11): e0206886.