Lived experiences of uncircumcised Pokot women in Amudat District, Uganda

Abstract

Drawing from qualitative interviews conducted between August and October 2021, I explored the lived experiences of uncircumcised Pokot women in Amudat District, Uganda. Although evidence exists on Karamojong women who have undergone circumcision, there is a paucity of information about the experiences of uncircumcised women as they continue to live in a community where circumcision remains a cherished custom. Through interviews with seventeen uncircumcised Pokot women, observations, informal conversations and key informant interviews, I examined the characteristics of uncircumcised women, their sexuality and psychosocial experiences, and how uncircumcised women navigate the complexities and tensions associated with rejection of female circumcision. Within the interpretivist philosophical underpinning, I anchored the study under the case study design during recruitment of participants, collection and interpretation of data. I used the respondent driven sampling technique in recruitment of participants and analysed data thematically. During interviews, uncircumcised women mentioned growing up from strong religious families and outside ancestral communities and their parents had attained education and were often economically well off. Out of the seventeen, four mentioned that their mothers had not undergone circumcision, which in itself proved a significant protective factor against circumcision. Participant’s’ sexual experiences varied. For some, improved sexual pleasure, less complication while giving birth, less exposure to sexually transmitted infections, and reduced exposure to early marriage were reported. At the same time, participants mentioned that they often were called derogatory names and given labels leading to stigmatization at school and within community. Others reported denial of conjugal rights, exclusion from cultural events, denial to socialize with circumcised women, and refusal by elders to bless their marriages whenever they happened. Navigating some of these experiences, participants mentioned gradual transformation in the social norms perpetuating the practice, desertion of their parental and matrimonial homes, getting married to men from other tribes, and socializing with uncircumcised older girls and women. In the cultural Karamojong context, some of these practices would imply exorcising from the community. However, support from parents and husbands as well as a gradual shift in interpretation of the cultural practices appear to create an environment where uncircumcised women find meaning to life. The experiences mentioned by participants underscore how the practice of female circumcision is deeply entrenched among the Pokot. While uncircumcised women have found a way of navigating unfavourable experiences, which has enabled some form of contestations around the practice, evading, successfully, such an entrenched practice is fraught with tensions and challenges. Therefore, studying these experiences require cultural based models and women’s agency in building resilience and deconstructing the sexualisation of female circumcision among the practicing communities.