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Johnsdotter, S. & Wendel, L. (2025). Prosecutions for female genital mutilation in Swedish courts: Tip of the iceberg or manifestation of epistemic injustice?. International Journal of Law Crime and Justice, 80, Article ID 100714.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Prosecutions for female genital mutilation in Swedish courts: Tip of the iceberg or manifestation of epistemic injustice?
2025 (English)In: International Journal of Law Crime and Justice, ISSN 1756-0616, E-ISSN 1876-763X, Vol. 80, article id 100714Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
  • The scarcity of criminal court cases on FGM aligns with research indicating that migration often leads to abandoning the practice.
  • The prevailing public discourse around FGM paves the way for epistemic injustice.
  • An analysis of Swedish FGM prosecutions reveals a risk that stereotypes based on ethnicity and religion may influence court decisions.
  • The legal handling of suspected cases must be conducted in accordance with the rule of law.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025
Keywords
Female genital mutilation, criminal court cases, criminal investigations, Sweden, discourse, epistemic injustice
National Category
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified
Research subject
Health and society studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-72643 (URN)10.1016/j.ijlcj.2024.100714 (DOI)001378854100001 ()2-s2.0-85211113541 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-12-10 Created: 2024-12-10 Last updated: 2025-01-20Bibliographically approved
Wall, I. & Johnsdotter, S. (2024). Sex as self-injury: The appearance of a new diagnostic category in Sweden. Sexualities, 27(1-2), 206-223
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Sex as self-injury: The appearance of a new diagnostic category in Sweden
2024 (English)In: Sexualities, ISSN 1363-4607, E-ISSN 1461-7382, Vol. 27, no 1-2, p. 206-223Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

“Sex as self-injury” is a well-established concept within Swedish society and is a new label for categorizing sexual risk-taking. The phenomenon has been discussed in Sweden since 2008, and about a decade later the concept appeared for the first time in Swedish scientific literature. “Sex as self-injury” is not yet an idea accepted by the international research field, but it can be assumed that it will eventually reach the international arena: the discourse about “self-destructive sex” has the potential to be established as a new diagnostic category of sexual dysfunction through “concept creep.” In this article, based on an analysis of media material from Sweden, we argue that the burgeoning discourse around “sex as self-injury” leads to a further strengthening of the normative division between “good” and “bad” sexualities, as described in Gayle Rubin’s work on a sex hierarchy.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2024
Keywords
Discourse, media, self-injury, sex as self-injury, sexual risk-taking
National Category
Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-51076 (URN)10.1177/13634607221077554 (DOI)000783466100001 ()2-s2.0-85129210652 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-04-13 Created: 2022-04-13 Last updated: 2024-03-28Bibliographically approved
Johnsdotter, S. & Wendel, L. (2023). Cultural change demands proportionate societal responsein the handling of suspected FGM/C cases. International journal of impotence research, 35(3), 216-217
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Cultural change demands proportionate societal responsein the handling of suspected FGM/C cases
2023 (English)In: International journal of impotence research, ISSN 0955-9930, E-ISSN 1476-5489, Vol. 35, no 3, p. 2p. 216-217Article in journal, Editorial material (Other academic) Published
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Nature Publishing Group, 2023. p. 2
Keywords
FGM, FGC, FGM/C, prevalence, Sweden, Europe
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-49971 (URN)10.1038/s41443-022-00535-x (DOI)000752202400001 ()35132200 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85124334560 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-02-07 Created: 2022-02-07 Last updated: 2023-07-04Bibliographically approved
Mestre i Mestre, R., Wendel, L. & Johnsdotter, S. (2023). Cultural Expertise and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (1ed.). In: Holden, Livia (Ed.), Cultural Expertise, Law, and Rights: A Comprehensive Guide (pp. 73-85). Routledge
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Cultural Expertise and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
2023 (English)In: Cultural Expertise, Law, and Rights: A Comprehensive Guide / [ed] Holden, Livia, Routledge, 2023, 1, p. 73-85Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

In this chapter, we discuss how cultural expertise can be used to neutralize stereotyped images of minority cultures in court in female genital mutilation/cutting–related cases because, wisely employed, it may counteract possible negative effects of typification and judicial stereotyping.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2023 Edition: 1
Keywords
Cultural expertise, FGC, FGM, law, court
National Category
Law Social Anthropology
Research subject
Health and society; Criminology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-59345 (URN)10.4324/9781003167075-9 (DOI)9781032498607 (ISBN)9780367760274 (ISBN)9781003167075 (ISBN)
Available from: 2023-04-23 Created: 2023-04-23 Last updated: 2023-05-19Bibliographically approved
Palm, C., Johnsdotter, S., Elmerstig, E., Holmström, C. & Essén, B. (2022). Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Counselling in Relation to Female Genital Cutting: Swedish Professionals' Approach to Menstrual Pain as an Empirical Example. Sexuality & Culture, 26, 1-25
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Counselling in Relation to Female Genital Cutting: Swedish Professionals' Approach to Menstrual Pain as an Empirical Example
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2022 (English)In: Sexuality & Culture, ISSN 1095-5143, E-ISSN 1936-4822, Vol. 26, p. 1-25Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In Sweden, as well as in an international context, professionals are urged to acquire knowledge about possible health effects of female genital cutting (FGC) in order to tackle prevention and care in relation to the practice. While professionals are guided by policies and interventions focusing on medical effects of FGC, some scholars have cautioned that many popular beliefs about health risks rest on inconclusive evidence. The way professionals understand and respond to health information about FGC has in this context largely been left unexamined. This article aims to provide a qualitative exploration of how professionals in Sweden approach adolescent sexual and reproductive healthcare encounters in relation to acquired knowledge about FGC, using menstrual pain as an empirical example. The analysis shows that there was a tendency in counselling to differentiate young migrant women's menstrual complaints from ordinary menstrual pain, with professionals understanding pain complaints either in terms of FGC or as culturally influenced. The study shows how professionals navigated their various sources of knowledge where FGC awareness worked as a lens through which young women's health complaints were understood. Biomedical knowledge and culture-specific expectations and assumptions regarding menstrual pain also informed counselling. Finally, the article discusses how FGC awareness about health risks was used constructively as a tool to establish rapport and take a history on both menstrual pain and FGC. The analysis also recognises potential pitfalls of the approaches used, if not based in well-informed policies and interventions in the first place.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2022
Keywords
Female genital cutting, Sexual and reproductive health counselling, Menstrual pain, Migration, Youth, Sweden
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-44875 (URN)10.1007/s12119-021-09895-w (DOI)000673518600001 ()2-s2.0-85122382469 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2021-08-17 Created: 2021-08-17 Last updated: 2024-03-26Bibliographically approved
Johnsdotter, S. (2022). Eroticisms in cross-cultural perspective (1sted.). In: Lori Watson; Clare Chambers; Brian Earp (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Sex and Sexuality: (pp. 20-34). New York: Routledge
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Eroticisms in cross-cultural perspective
2022 (English)In: The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Sex and Sexuality / [ed] Lori Watson; Clare Chambers; Brian Earp, New York: Routledge, 2022, 1st, p. 20-34Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

This chapter focuses on cultural variation regarding sexual activities and erotic practices. First, there is a presentation of how research data on these questions have been collected historically, acknowledging scientific and moral shortcomings of such compilations. Then, an empirical example—heterosexual intercourse—is used to show that there is wide cultural variation even in “dominant” sexual practices around the world. Sexual script theory is presented to introduce the overarching theoretical lens, social constructionism, that most scholars in the social sciences and humanities use to understand and describe sexuality. Cultural variation in views of acceptable sexual expressions may create challenges in multicultural societies, and this is discussed with respect to the fraught issue of sexuality and children. The chapter ends with a discussion of cultural change and globalization, pointing to current and future directions in anthropological approaches to understanding human sexuality.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
New York: Routledge, 2022 Edition: 1st
Series
Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy, ISSN 2769-0636
Keywords
Sexuality, sex, eroticisms, culture, cultural variation, cross-cultural, sexuality studies, Sexualitet, sex, erotik, kultur, kulturell variation, tvärkulturell, sexualitetsstudier
National Category
Gender Studies
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-56563 (URN)10.4324/9781003286523-4 (DOI)9781003286523 (ISBN)9781138370678 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-12-12 Created: 2022-12-12 Last updated: 2022-12-12Bibliographically approved
Johnsdotter, S. (2022). Female Genital Mutilation (2nded.). In: J. Kalaivanthan (Ed.), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology: . Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Female Genital Mutilation
2022 (English)In: The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology / [ed] J. Kalaivanthan, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2022, 2ndChapter in book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

“Female genital mutilation” (FGM) or “female genital cutting” (often FGM/C) are the most widespread terms to designate nonmedical practices that alter or affect the external female genitalia. Medical consequences are often classified into immediate and long-term complications. FGM/C in some form is practiced in more than 30 countries, primarily in Africa and Asia, and there is vast variation as regards motives and age of the girls who undergo the procedure. FGM/C is illegal in Europe, North America, and Australia, and in most high-prevalence countries in Africa. Few cases of illegal FGM/C procedures have reached criminal courts in the west. A growing body of research demonstrates that cultural change regarding FGM/C attitudes and practices among migrant communities may be an important explanatory factor. Current contested issues include how the prevalent zero-tolerance approach to FGM/C is in line with the general acceptance of male circumcision, intersex surgery, and cosmetic female genital surgeries.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2022 Edition: 2nd
Keywords
female genital mutilation, cultural change, female circumcision, female genital cutting, legislation, medical consequences
National Category
Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-56564 (URN)10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosf031.pub2 (DOI)9781405124331 (ISBN)9781405165518 (ISBN)
Available from: 2022-12-12 Created: 2022-12-12 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Earp, B. D. & Johnsdotter, S. (2021). Current critiques of the WHO policy on female genital mutilation. International journal of impotence research, 33, 196-209
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Current critiques of the WHO policy on female genital mutilation
2021 (English)In: International journal of impotence research, ISSN 0955-9930, E-ISSN 1476-5489, Vol. 33, p. 196-209Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In recent years, the dominant Western discourse on "female genital mutilation" (FGM) has increasingly been challenged by scholars. Numerous researchers contest both the terminology used and the empirical claims made in what has come to be called "the standard tale" of FGM (also termed "female genital cutting" [FGC]). The World Health Organization (WHO), a major player in setting the global agenda on this issue, maintains that all medically unnecessary cutting of the external female genitalia, no matter how slight, should be banned as torture and a violation of the human right to bodily integrity. However, the WHO targets only non-Western forms of female-only genital cutting, raising concerns about gender bias and cultural imperialism. Here, we summarize ongoing critiques of the WHO's terminology, ethicolegal assumptions, and empirical claims, including the claim that non-Western FGC as such constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. To this end, we highlight recent comparative studies of medically unnecessary genital cutting of all types, including those affecting adult women and teenagers in Western societies, individuals with differences of sex development (DSD), transgender persons, and males. In so doing, we attempt to clarify the grounds for a growing critical consensus that current anti-FGM laws and policies may be ethically incoherent, empirically unsupportable, and legally unsustainable.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Nature Publishing Group, 2021
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-17575 (URN)10.1038/s41443-020-0302-0 (DOI)000554759600003 ()32457498 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85085386661 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2020-06-30 Created: 2020-06-30 Last updated: 2024-06-17Bibliographically approved
Johnsdotter, S. & Essén, B. (2021). Deinfibulation Contextualized: Delicacies of Shared Decision-Making in the Clinic. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50, 1943-1948
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Deinfibulation Contextualized: Delicacies of Shared Decision-Making in the Clinic
2021 (English)In: Archives of Sexual Behavior, ISSN 0004-0002, E-ISSN 1573-2800, Vol. 50, p. 1943-1948Article in journal, Editorial material (Other academic) Published
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2021
National Category
Social Work
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-14197 (URN)10.1007/s10508-020-01676-0 (DOI)000519827700003 ()32170548 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85082010312 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2020-03-31 Created: 2020-03-31 Last updated: 2024-11-13Bibliographically approved
Johnsdotter, S. (Ed.). (2020). Female Genital Cutting: The Global North and South. Malmö: Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Female Genital Cutting: The Global North and South
2020 (English)Collection (editor) (Other academic)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö: Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies, 2020. p. 297
Keywords
female genital cutting, female circumcision, female genital mutilation, FOKO
National Category
Social Sciences
Research subject
Health and society
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-37532 (URN)10.24834/isbn.9789178771240 (DOI)978-91-7877-124-0 (ISBN)978-91-7877-123-3 (ISBN)
Note

Oral presentations from the 9th conference forthe Nordic Network for Research on FGC (FOKO)

Available from: 2020-12-10 Created: 2020-12-10 Last updated: 2022-07-26Bibliographically approved
Projects
Female genital cutting and sexuality; Malmö UniversitySocietal measures to check for suspected female genital mutilation in Sweden: an analysis of proportionality in the authorities’ handling of suspected cases; Malmö University, Centre for Sexology and Sexuality Studies (CSS); Publications
Johnsdotter, S. & Wendel, L. (2025). Prosecutions for female genital mutilation in Swedish courts: Tip of the iceberg or manifestation of epistemic injustice?. International Journal of Law Crime and Justice, 80, Article ID 100714.
From Bedside to Court Bench: Medical Expertise and Unintended Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation Policy and Legalislation [2024-00224_Forte]; Uppsala University
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-7625-5873

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