Female Genital Mutilation and Marital Satisfaction among Kenyan Females

The pernicious practice identified as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises of various procedures that damage female genitalia for non-therapeutic intentions and is widely considered a human rights violation. Globally, tangled cultural and religious traditions are responsible for perpetuating Female Genital Mutilation. Women continue to be victims of this practice irrespective of their socio-economic status, and irrespective of an ardent worldwide campaign against it. The current empirical investigation into the consequences of FGM is multi-faceted and reveals negative impacts on women physically, psychologically, and psychosexually. This study presents an investigation addressing one significant aim in the current research. The aim of this study is to determine whether FGM versus non-FGM married females in Kenya and Kenyan immigrants in the United States of America vary on relationship characteristics such as relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, intimacy, spousal support, and gender role attitudes. One hundred and thirty six married females between the ages of 18 and 79 completed five different surveys. Among these married women, some women had undergone FGM while some had not. Factorial analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test study hypotheses. The emerging data illustrated that even though non-significant, there are differences in marital satisfaction between Kenyan locals and Kenyan immigrants in the United States. Based on these findings, implications are suggested for future research in this area for further understanding the impact of female genital mutilation on marriages both in Kenya and the USA.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Counseling and Family Sciences

Year

2013

Author dc:creator

• Nyairo, Caroline Bosibori

Contributors dc:contributor

• Distelberg, Brian
• Fox, Curtis A.
• Knudson-Martin, Carmen
• Muchee, Tabitha

• Family, Life Course, and Society
• Kenya; Female circumcision; Clitoridectomy; Marital Quality; Interpersonal relations; Satisfaction; Married people - Africa - Kenya
• Female Genital Mutilation
• Marital Satisfaction

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/140

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1139