2020 Annual Conference Preview

In the Name of Culture?: Social Workers Response to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Forced Marriage Situations

Tuesday's Keynote Presenters. Top: Mariama Diallo, LCSW. Bottom: Bushra Husain, LCSW.

18 March 2020 | www.naswnj.org Although forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) are internationally recognized as serious human rights violations, millions of women and girls around the world today live with the physically and psychologically damaging consequences of these practices. Moreover, forced marriage and FGM are not confined to distant shores. In 2013, more than 500,000 women and girls were estimated to be at risk of FGM across the United States (Population Reference Bureau 2013). In 2011, a national survey found as many as 3,000 known and suspected cases of forced marriage in the United States in immigrant communities from 56 different countries, as well as nonimmigrant communities (Tahirih Justice Center 2011). However, these issues are often underreported and may not be seen by many service providers and law enforcement officers as forms of genderbased violence.

Tuesday’s Keynote address at the NASW-NJ Annual Conference, presented by Mariama Diallo, LCSW and Bushra Husain, LCSW, will delve further into this topic and explore the fine line we tread when differentiating cultural practice from abusive and harmful behavior.

Diallo, who grew up in Guinea, a small country in West Africa, says she lived in a world where gender-based violence was considered the norm, according to a December 2019 press release issued by the Rutgers University School of Social Work. “It is so ingrained in the culture that it is hard

to see it as a problem,” Diallo is quoted as saying. “As a child, my dream was to make things different, especially for women and girls. Therefore, social justice has always been something I’ve strived for.”

Diallo is currently a Doctor of Social Work (DSW) student at Rutgers and was recently awarded the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) coveted Minority Fellowship for her work with survivors of FGM. According to the Rutgers press release, in addition to her clinical work with survivors and her doctoral studies, Diallo is focused on broader mental health issues in her home country, and is seeking to work with the Guinean government to develop a bill aimed at establishing a solid safety net for Guineans struggling with their mental health.

“For the past 15 years, I have been working with survivors of FGM as well as girls who are at risk of the practice,” Diallo states in the Rutgers press release. “I have noticed that the fear of being subject to FGM causes a serious distress for families. In addition, survivors have a very high need of services due to the physical and psychological trauma they have suffered.” She notes that “cultural taboos and a lack of concrete policy” have created a mental health crisis in Guinea and hopes her advocacy and legislative efforts can bring change to the community.

Husain, also a DSW student at Rutgers, was a founding member of the South Asian Taskforce against Domestic Violence at Sanctuary for Families in New York City. In that role, she has conducted research and outreach about domestic violence in the South Asian community and facilitated the creation of an inter-disciplinary tool for interviewing South Asian victims of domestic violence called the South Asian Power and Control Lotus. She is the recent founder of the New York State Coalition to End Forced and Child Marriage and has presented on the issue of forced and child marriage nationally.

Diallo and Husain elaborate on the problems of FGM and child marriage in their proposal to present at the NASW-NJ Conference. “Across the world, individuals are forced to flee their homes because their safety and well-being is compromised by their parents and families,” they note. “[Women and girls] are betrayed by their loved ones and forced into marriages and subjected to FGM against their will. If they refuse to comply with these practices, they are often bartered, abandoned, abused, and threatened with violence or even death by their relatives.”

“There continues to be an overall silence that pervades because these practices are often confused with cultural traditions, and therefore it is difficult to identify the warning signs, assess risks, and coordinate services for safety,” they continue. “Therefore, it is crucial for service providers to be aware of the unique circumstances and their role in responding to such cases.”

If you’d like to learn more about the cultural, ethical, and clinical circumstances surrounding these practice, be sure to join us at the 2020 NASW-NJ Annual Conference, where in addition to their Keynote address, Diallo and Husain will offer a 2-hour workshop focusing on trauma-informed approaches to working with survivors of FGM and forced marriage. Registration is open now at: www.naswnj.org/events/ annual-conference.