Cursed or blessed? Female genital cutting in the Gamo cultural landscape, South Western Ethiopia.

Mehari, Getaneh

Abstract

Female genital cutting (FGC) is a widely blamed practice for violating women's reproductive rights and health. However, the diversity and complexity of FGC-related beliefs and practices within the same cultural setting have never been adequately explored. This paper aims at examining this issue in the context of Gamo cultural procedure relying on ethnographic data gathered from selected communities. The findings revealed that the Gamo cultural setting exhibits a considerable internal diversity related to the meanings and practices of FGC. Taboos prohibiting and cherishing FGC are pervasive across Gamo communities that share the same general culture. FGC is regarded as a polluting practice in some communities and as a purifying process in others. In this diverse and complex cultural landscape, girls/women are protected from FGC in some communities, while they are forced to undergo FGC in other communities in different local contexts. The paper concludes that blaming African cultures for exposing women to FGC and for violating their physical integrity could be a crude generalization of a complex phenomenon because in some circumstances, FGC-related discourses and practices are contested within the same cultural setting; and in some African cultures, the notion of women's physical integrity is highly valued.

Keywords: Human rights, physical integrity, Female Genital Cutting FGC, taboos, African culture

Introduction

Human rights discourses often portray non-Western cultures as a set of "customs, traditions, and ancient practices" that hinder change (Merry 2003, p. 58). African cultures have been blamed for embracing practices that violate women's rights and wellbeing. Female genital cutting is one of the most blamed customary practices in gender studies and human rights discourses. As Merry (2003) argues, the campaigns against FGC seem to be parts of a wider critique against cultures that overlook pro-women aspects of African cultures. Such an approach undermines the understanding of the contested nature of FGC-related discourses and practices within and across cultures. The argument of this paper draws on the critique against a gross demonization of cultures widely observed in human rights discourses.

FGC is widely practiced in many African countries. In Ethiopia, female genital cutting is prevalent in all regions except in Gambela Regional State and among some ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia. Infibulation, an extreme form of FGC, is also practiced among the Somali (90%), Afar (63%), Berta (10%), Harari (5%) and Oromo (1%) (NCTPE 1998). In spite of this, FGC is considered as a cursed practice in some cultures. A survey on harmful traditional practices shows that 28 ethnic groups (most of them in southern Ethiopia) do not practice FGC (NCTPE 1998). My preliminary observations also indicate that the notion of 'physical integrity' of human beings is highly valued and FGC is strictly prohibited among some ethnic groups (e.g., Konso and Derashie). FGC-related discourses and practices are also highly contested in the Gamo cultural setting. This paper explores the diversity of FGC-related beliefs and practices and their implications for women's rights and health in the Gamo cultural landscape.

The study area and methods

The findings of this paper relied on ethnographic data gathered from the Gamo area between 2006 and 2012. (1) The Gamo area refers to the Gamo highlands and surrounding lowlands predominantly inhabited by the Gamo people. It is located in the Gamo Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS). The Gamo highlands, where the fieldworks for this study were carried out, are situated to the west of the two Rift Valley lakes, Abaya and Chamo, about 450 kilo meters to the south west of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

According to a census report of 2007, the Gamo population was over 1.1 million (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: FDRE 2008). Anthropological accounts reveal that the Gamo people were organized into several tiny states locally called dereta (singular dere). The dereta survived as autonomous political units until the Gamo area was incorporated into the expanding Ethiopian State in 1898 (Olmstead 1974; Freeman 2002). Ochollo, Dorze, Dita, Doko and Ezo were some of the pre-1898 autonomous political units. Currently, the dereta do not exist as autonomous political entities; however, they still maintain their respective geographic boundaries, local institutions and dere structures.

The bulk of the data was collected from Dorze dere (2) which has been known for its skillful weavers and high rate of rural-urban migration of weavers. Qualitative method is implemented to collect data. Dorze is situated in Chencha district of the Gamo Gofa Zone. It is divided into 11 kebeles (3) and one small town known as Bodo. The population of Dorze is estimated to be over 20,000. (4) In addition to data gathered from Dorze, a small comparative data was collected from FGC-practicing (e.g., Dita) and FGC-free (e.g., Doko and Wobera) Gamo communities (see map below). Preliminary data were also obtained from the Konso, ethnic group settled to the south of the Gamo area.

Discussion

Gamo communities (dereta) share an overall cultural similarity. An overwhelming majority of the people speaks a mutually intelligible language (Gamotstso). Gamo communities share a similar indigenous belief system, customary justice institutions, and land tenure system. Patriarchal structure is dominant across the Gamo area. Descent is reckoned through the male line. Men control key economic resources and prestigious political and cultural institutions. Gome, a complex taboo institution, is also a central component of the Gamo culture.

The Gamo cultural setting also exhibits a prominent internal diversity. Freeman (2000), who studied two neighboring communities in the Gamo highland, has observed a considerable diversity in forms of initiation rituals. Getaneh (2014) also noted diversity of local discourses and practices associated with female genital cutting within and across Gamo communities. Moreover, each Gamo community (dere) tends to claim a unique identity, historical roots, and genealogy. Multiple meanings attached to gome in different local settings can be considered as a typical example of internal diversity within the Gamo cultural setting.

It is imperative to understand the meanings of gome to grasp the central argument of this article. Gome is a cultural concept that carries multiple meanings in different contexts. As it appears in local discourses, gome refers to a set of taboos. It is in this context study participants claimed that 'adultery is gome', 'insulting parents is gome', and 'female circumcision is gome'. The meaning of gome is also closely associated with the notions of pollution. Transgression of a particular taboo (e.g., sex taboos), participants argued, would lead to pollution which could not only affect the transgressor (e.g., an adulterer) but also people related to him/her (e.g., a spouse), and places where the transgression occurs (e.g., farm plots). Pollution caused by transgression of taboos could be cleansed; first, by confessing the wrong deed, and then by performing rituals. Transgressors who fail to cleanse the pollution, however, would be susceptible to misfortunes such as illness, infertility, and death.

It is problematic to come up with a single definition of gome which is loaded with a wide range of meanings. For the sake of simplicity, gome can be conceptualized as a complex taboo institution that embraces several taboos that could be divided into major categories. Getaneh 2014 as developed typologies of gome that embrace a set of taboos associated with senior-junior relationships (xera gome), land use (bitta gome), pollution (tuna gome) and sexual behaviour (layma gome). Qexera gome, a category of gome associated with FGC, is a central concept in the subsequent discussions.

The analysis of FGC discourses and practices is a bit difficult because of the diversity of meanings and implications of qexera gome. As the study finsings show, qexera gome is one of the highly cherished category of gome in all Gamo communities. In both FGC-free and FGC-practicing communities, qexera gome embrases taboos which are closely associated with the notions of pollution and purity. Despite this, qexera gome has diverse and even contrary meanings in FGC-free and FGC-practicing communities sharing the Gamo cultural landscape. In the former, FGC is considered as a taboo and a violation of God-given physical integrity of women whereas in the latter, it is regarded as a purifying process.

Embracing diverse meanings across communities and serving as a symbol of collective identity, qexera gome sets socio-cultural boundaries between FGC-free and FGC-practicing communities. An overall observation of the Gamo area shows that FGC is a normative practice predominantly in the northern part of the Gamo highlands5 whereas it is labeled as a severe taboo in central and southern parts of the highlands. A similar pattern has been observed in Chencha district where FGC-practicing and FGC-free communities live side-by-side as portrayed in the following map.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

As shown in the map, the area covered with diagonal lines, south and south western parts of the district, indicates FGC-free areas including Dorze, Wobera, and Doko. The northern and western parts of the district (the gray section of the map) are mainly inhabited by communities practicing FGC. Moreover, the north, west, and eastern parts of Chencha district were surrounded by districts (e.g. Dita, Kucha and Boreda) where FGC is widely practiced. Arba Minch Zuria district which is located to the south of Chencha district is predominantly inhabited by FGC-free communities. Despite this, there are pocket areas in the Gamo highlands and the surrounding lowlands where some people practice female genital cutting while others do not.

The genesis of qexera gome: Dorze perspectives

As noted earlier, discourses and practices related to female genital cutting are contested across Gamo communities. Data obtained from Dorze also depict the diversity of perspectives and claims even within the same community. One of the areas of disputed claims in the Dorze setting is the genesis of qexera gome. The claims varied from the most recurring view that female circumcision is a taboo in Dorze because 'the culture of old days banned the practice' to other religious and mythical narratives.

Some of the participants, specifically those strongly affiliated to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, associate the absence of FGC in Dorze with the assumed circumcision-status of Saint Mary. My two key informants (6) belonged to that group of people. According to one of them, female circumcision has been forbidden in Dorze because "the thing of the woman" [to mean female genital] is "The thing of Saint Mary". He argued that "Saint Mary is not cut. We are Christians; so, why do we practice female circumcision? People in old days banned female circumcision for this reason." The other key informant supported the argument saying: "We rejected female circumcision saying: "we do not allow Mary's stuff to be cut.'" This claim was not reflected by other Dorze participants.

Data collected from Laka, one of the 11 Dorze kebeles, revealed another explanation based on mythical narratives. A key informant from Laka narrated the following story in 2006:

   Dorze girls used to be cut in the past. Female circumcision
   was performed by men. Once upon a time, a girl brought for
   circumcision refused to get cut. She run away from the site
   shouting that she was not willing to show her thigh to men ...
   and threw herself into a nearby gorge and died. From then
   on, female circumcision was prohibited (a man in late 60s).

A detailed version of the narrative emerged in August 2012 when I was engaged in an informal conversation with two other elderly men on a coffee ceremony. One of the two men (late 70s) narrated:

   Female circumcision was practiced in Dorze in the remote
   past. Both women and men used to be cut at the dubusha (7)
   located close to my house ... here at this dubusha! [pointing
   to the place in the neighborhood] One day, a girl called
   Qayishe, the daughter of Ka'o Ayeiqa, died, having jumped
   into a gorge known as Tadiya. She did that when she was
   brought to undergo female circumcision. She ran, ran, and
   ran heading to the Tadiya gorge saying, "I shall not be cut! I
   shall not show my thighs to men!" After mourning the death
   of his daughter, Ka'o Ayeiqa put the following curse on
   people practicing female circumcision: "After the death of my
   daughter Qayshie, may female circumcision be cursed! May
   it be curse of the curses! May female circumcision be gome
   that could never be cleansed! Those who practice it may
   die!"

According to the man narrated the story, some people continued practicing female genital cutting ignoring the words of Ka'o Ayeiqa. However, those who practiced it had suffered from misfortunes including illness and death. (8) As a result, gradually, people abandoned the practice.

Understanding the meanings of cultural terms emerged in the narrative is important to appreciate the whole story. The first important term, ka'o, was a title of dere leaders in the Gamo area. It has a similar meaning to the term king; although, ka'o in the Gamo context did not have a strong power as compared to kings of other kingdoms of that period; for example, the kingdoms of Wolaita and Dawro. (9) First, Gamo ka'os ruled tiny states; second, their power was more spiritual than political. Ka'o Ayeiqa, according to the story, was a politico-ritual leader of Dorze dere. The story narrated above suggests the spiritual power of the ka'o to make laws in the form of taboos.

The meanings of gome, the other cultural concept appeared in the narrative, was addressed earlier. However, it is important to note that taboos that are labelled as gome could be divided into two major categories: 1) taboo (if violated) that could cause pollution and lead to misfortunes; in this case, it is possible to perform rituals to cleanse the pollution and avert misfortunes; and 2) taboos (if violated) that could lead to pollution; in this case, the pollution cannot be cleansed and hence the misfortunes cannot be averted. Ka'o Ayeiqa's curse (see the underlined part of the narrative) reveals that taboos related to female genital cutting belong to the latter.

The Dorze notion of female circumcision is also related to the cultural meanings of femininity and masculinity. When women are cut, participants argued, they would no more be considered as women. Thus, when a man is married to a cut woman, the union would be considered as a marriage between two men. The data gathered from Doko, a dere located to the north west of Dorze (see the map), supports this idea. Like in Dorze, female genital cutting is a taboo practice in Doko.

One of the study participants from Doko asserted that the practice is a taboo because in the Doko culture:

   ... marrying and living with a cut woman is considered as
   living with another man in the same house as a husband
   and a wife. The culture does not allow this. A cut woman is
   considered as a man.... Could two men live under the same
   roof as a husband and a wife? ... Doko women have never
   been cut. This was fixed in the past.

As indicated above, the meaning of female genital cutting has implications for femininity of women. Women in FGC-free communities will no longer be considered as women when their genital is cut. Hence, it is a taboo for men in FGC-free communities to marry a cut woman. Exercising sex with a cut woman is also gome for men since it would be considered as practicing sexual intercourse with persons with the same sex. As diversity is a norm in the Gamo cultural landscape, the reverse is true in FGC-practicing communities.

FGC: Arguments and counter arguments

As noted above, diversity of FGC-related beliefs and practices is pervasive across the Gamo area. Looking into the specific contexts of Gamo communities is essential to understand the extent of the diversity and its implication for girls/women's rights and health. Communities that do practice (e.g., Dita) and do not practice (e.g., Dorze) female genital cutting attach different meanings to the same practice. Female genital cutting is a blessing and purifying practice for the former while it is a cursed and polluting practice for the latter. As a result, FGC-related discourses and practices are contested across Gamo communities. This is clearly reflected in local discourses that involve derogatory terms related to female genital cutting. For example, as a young woman in Dorze (10) explained, the Dorze use the term mudda to embarrass a cut woman. The word mudda refers to someone who has been amputated and who is not complete because of a missing part of her/his body. So, a cut woman in the Dorze context is considered as one who is missing an important part of her body.

A cut woman is also considered as tuna in Dorze. Tuna is an important cultural concept across the Gamo area. It refers to something or somebody that is impure or polluted and that has a potential to pollute other people and things. A cut woman is labelled as a tuna that has a potential to pollute men who had sex with them. Furthermore, the pollution would bring misfortunes to children born into the union, the entire family, and community. As they are considered tuna, cut women are excluded from different activities in the Dorze context. For example, they are not allowed to cook kaca katha, a traditional dish served for a bride and bridegroom during a wedding ceremony; to make a bed for a newly married couple; to start the process of brewing local beer brewed for the purpose of rituals and ceremonies; and to assume the status of a senior woman in the family.

Conversely, using derogatory words against uncut women is also common in FGC-practicing communities. In these areas, Dorze women are subject to exclusion because of their circumcision status. Expressions related to uncut woman include the following: one whose clitoris is not cut; a woman that is prone to breaking household utensils; and one who would not prosper though she works hard. There is also a belief that food cooked by uncut women would run out quickly.

The meaning of 'genital cutting' seems to be more complex in some Gamo communities. As participants from Kamba and Bonke (11) districts disclosed, female genital cutting is regarded as mutilating a part of women's body created by Xosa (God); hence, it is violating not only the physical integrity of women but also disregarding the deeds of Xosa. People in these districts have different sayings about the practice. The following sayings throw light on the notion of women's physical integrity among some Gamo communities.

Local terms                     English equivalent

Xosa medhida asnath fachinso.   Do not cut the body given by God.

Xosa xore immin Amaray qarxi    While God creates clitoris, the
kares.                          Amhara cut it and play with it.

These sayings emphasize the idea that female genital organ (specifically clitoris) is God-given and cutting parts of it is similar to violating what God has created. The second saying specifically talks about the Amhara, the second largest ethnic group in Ethiopia. The Amhara constituted the majority of Menelik's army settled in some parts of the Gamo highlands at the dawn of the 19th century. The same saying also conveys that female genital cutting is an alien practice, at least to some parts of the Gamo area, and perhaps introduced to those areas by Amhara settlers.

Taboo restrictions also encompass male circumcision among the Gamo and the neighboring cultural groups. Like FGC, male circumcision that involves knifing, was a taboo particularly in some parts of the Gamo area (e.g., Kemba and Bonke districts) and considered as violating God-given physical integrity of men. In some parts of these districts 'male circumcision' was carried out by using maxe, a grass-like plant with a milky fluid. The foreskin of the penis is treated with the milky fluid of maxe. The fluid irritates the foreskin and shrinks it up within a few days; hence, male circumcision without cutting and bleeding (12). Preliminary findings also reveal that the notion of "God-given physical integrity" observed in parts of the Gamo area is also cherished among ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia including the Konso (13) people.

Qexera gome: Diverse meanings, varied implications

The diversity of beliefs and practices related to FGC has created a complex senario across the Gamo area. Observations in FGC-free areas reveal the positive implications of FGC-related taboos (qexera gome) for women's wellbeing. However, qetera gome involves negative implications in broader contexts as it also has negative implications for women's rights and health in FGC-practicing communities such as Dita. One of the implications of qexera gome is limiting marriage opportunities of uncut women in communities that practice FGC. For example, marriage between Dorze women and Dita men is rare because of taboo restrictions. For Dita men, marriage with Dorze women (or any uncut women) is a taboo since uncut girls/women are considered as impure among the Dita. If such a marriage occurs, it would expose the spouses, specifically the woman, to complicated socio-cultural problems including social exclusion. First, the woman might be forced to undergo female genital cutting in order to be integrated into the family and community of her husband. Although getting cut helps the Dorze woman to be treated well in her husband's community, her new circumcision status will isolate her from her community of origin, her parents and relatives. If such a woman gets divorced from her Dita husband, she would encounter a problem to go back to Dorze and get a Dorze husband since marriage to a cut woman is a taboo in Dorze.

The discrimination goes beyond this. An elderly Dorze woman disclosed her position in relation to treating a cut woman in this way: "Even if she is my daughter, I will not allow her to eat with me if she comes home after being cut. She will not live in her father's house. She will be isolated." This indicates that cut women in Dorze will face different challenges as a result of widely held beliefs associated with female genital cutting. The following case illustrates how Dorze women could suffer from discrimination both in their own and in their husband's communities because of their circumcision status. The case is a story of a woman born to a Dorze father and a Dita mother in the place called Zala about seven decades ago. Her name was Dorze Celo (named after her father's dere, Dorze; and after her uncle, Celo). When her father died, she stayed in Dita with her mother and got cut as any other girls in Dita. In the meantime, she moved to Dorze to live with her uncle. However, she faced a problem because of her circumcision status. The story continues as follows:

   While she was staying in her uncle's home, something
   important happened one day. Celo, her uncle, slaughtered a
   sheep for the purpose of a ritual. The gome expert who 'read'
   the intestine of the sheep told Celo that his life was in
   danger because of gome related to a girl living in his house
   and advised him to check it out ... Celo asked his niece, "I
   am informed that my life is in danger because of you. What
   wrong have you done?" Dorze told him that she was cut
   when she was in Dita. Her uncle sent her back to her
   mother's community [i.e., Dita] on that very day. She went to
   Dita, married a Dita man and gave birth to three children.
   When her uncle died, his son Sado started to find Dorze
   Celo. He managed to find her through a Dita man who had
   come to Dorze. He sent a message to Dorze Celo and invited
   her to visit him. She came to Sado's home with her
   daughters and the wives of her brother-in-law. All of them
   stayed there for a few days. Then all of them moved back to
   Dita while Dorze's eldest daughter was left behind to stay in
   Sado's home. Dorze's daughter was also forced to go back to
   Dita when she intended to get married. The reason was the
   same: she could not get a husband in Dorze because she
   had been cut while she was in Dita.

The above case is constructed based on a real story narrated by an old woman in her late 70s. The woman is a close relative of the father of Dorze Celo. The woman and Dorze Celo were young girls staying together before the latter was forced to go back to Dita. The story illustrates that the belief in qexera gome has not been significantly altered through generations: both Dorze Celo and her daughter remained detached from the Dorze community because of their circumcision status. Furthermore, they were moving between Dorze and Dita identities. Dorze Celo got cut because of her ties with the Dita people. However, her Dorze identity did not fade away. She got her name after her Dorze identity. Dorze and her daughters were invited to come to Dorze because of their Dorze descent. However, they were not treated as full members of the Dorze community as a result of their circumcision.

The findings reveal that women coming to Dorze from FGC-practicing areas also face similar social problems. Such a woman would be labeled as a cut woman just because she comes from an FGC-practicing community and exposed to gossip for her assumed circumcision status. The problem sometimes goes beyond gossip. The following is a story happened in Dorze two decades ago:

   There was a young man married to a woman who came from
   outside Dorze. He lived with his wife in his parents'
   compound. The man and his wife shared the same
   homestead with his mother (his father had died earlier). His
   mother was suspicious of the circumcision status of her
   daughter-in-law because the latter had come from an area
   where female circumcision is practiced. In the meantime,
   conflict arose between the couple on the one hand, and the
   mother, on the other. The reason for the conflict was that the
   mother had seen sign of qexera gome [e.g., seeing a certain
   type of snake in the enset (14) grove] after her daughter-in-law
   came home. Finally, the woman told her son either to get rid
   of his wife or to go away with her. The man preferred to live
   with his wife and moved with her to a nearby small town
   where he continued his marital life.

This story shows inter-generational diversity of belief in gome and related misfortunes. The mother and her son had quite different views about qexera gome and related pollution and misfortunes. The mother refused to live together with her daughter-in-law because she was scared of misfortunes that could be caused by the presence of a cut woman in her homestead. Her son (an educated civil servant) held a different position; he put aside fear of qexera gome and decided to live with his wife.

The current FGC-related discourses and practices in the study area entail continuities and changes. As far as female genital cutting is concerned, local discourses and practices in Dorze (probably in other FGC-free communities as well) seem to be intact in many ways. Changes in this regard are less likely because the Dorze taboo system that prohibits FGC is supported by current discourses on harmful traditional practices, reproductive health and women's rights. Currently, formal education, the state media (radio and television programs), education disseminated by advocates of women's rights and health extension workers have strengthened the taboo that prohibits female genital cutting among the Dorze and other FGC-free communities. However, the implications of these discourses on FGC-practicing communities have not been explored.

Conclusion

Although cultures are dynamic and changing, some aspects of cultures, specifically those embedded in indigenous belief system, continue to influence human behavior and social relationships in many African societies. As the findings of the study clearly reveal, gome, a taboo institution embedded in the Gamo indigenous belief system, has continued to influence FGC-related beliefs and practices across Gamo communities. The implications of gome vis-a-vis women's rights and health in the broader Gamo context are diverse and complex. Gome embraces a set of taboos that uphold girls/women's rights and health in one setting while it exposes them to harmful practices and discrimination in other contexts. For instance, gome protects the rights of girls/women to be free from genital cutting in communities where the practice is deemed to be a taboo. In this regard, it protects girls/women's right to physical integrity, which is a central issue in genital cutting discourses (Abusharaf 1995; Boyle, Svoboda, and Christopher 2000; Amado 2004). This suggests that the notion of physical integrity of human beings is not alien to African cultures.

As internal heterogeneity is a pervasive feature of the Gamo cultural landscape, gome has negative implications for girls/women's rights and wellbeing in communities that cherish FGC as a purifying practice. Labeling uncut women as impure, and prescribing genital cutting as a purifying practice and a gateway for femininity, gome promotes the violation of women's physical integrity and wellbeing in FGC-practicing communities. Furthermore, the belief in FGC-related purity and pollution has adverse consequences including 1) curbing women's (as well as men's) marriage opportunities across FGC-free and FGC-practicing communities; and 2) exposing women to discrimination associated with their circumcision status, especially when they find themselves outside their respective communities.

Human rights discourses tend to demonize non-Western cultures exclusively focusing on customary practices (e.g. FGC) that harm women and girls. Blaming African cultures for violating women's physical integrity appears to be a crude generalization of diverse and complex beliefs, values and practices. In this regard, as the Gamo case demonstrates, the same general culture could exhibit complex internal diversity regarding practices such as female genital cutting.

Note on contributor

Assistant Professor, Department of Social Anthropology, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

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Endnotes

(1) I had started my initial fieldworks in the Gamo highlands in 2004 as part of my MA thesis research. First, my fieldwork was limited to Chencha district, mainly confined to Dorze dere. In 2006, I carried out a comparative research focusing on Dorze and Dita communities of the Gamo highlands. The study findings informed me about FGC-related taboos which have diverse meanings and implications for women's reproductive rights and health. In 2012, I carried out an extended ethnographic fieldwork among Gamo communities (Dorze, Dita and Doko) for my doctoral research. The current article is a part of my PhD dissertation.

(2) 'Dorze dere' and "Dorze' are used interchangeably throughout the article.

(3) The term kebele refers to the lowest unit in the administrative structure of the Ethiopian state.

(4) The figure was collected from Chencha district administrative office in 2012.

(5) According to national surveys on harmful traditional practices in Ethiopia, the prevalence of FGM among the Gamo has decreased from 29.6% (NCTPE 1998) to 13.5% (EGLDAM 2008) within a decade.

(6) The two elderly men were known for their knowledge of Dorze culture, belief and history. Although they were followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, they were also advocates of the indigenous belief and the gome institution. One of them was a well-known traditional expert in interpreting gome related transgressions and prescribing a ritual appropriate to clean the pollution caused by a particular transgression.

(7) Dubusha is a place where public assemblies are held, conflicts are resolved and customary laws are enacted.

(8) The participants did not specifically mention the time of the curse.

(9) Wolaita and Dawro are ethnic groups closely related to the Gamo. The three ethnic groups speak related languages (Omotic languages) and share a considerable cultural similarity while they had big differences in terms of political organization. Unlike the Gamo, Wolaita and Dawro had a centralized political system ruled by powerful kings using the same title-ka'o.

(10) This young woman was a petty trader who used to travel across local markets in the Gamo highlands as well as lowland markets (e.g., Chano and Lante) located along the Addis Ababa-Arba Minch highway. She claimed that her explanation was based on what she had experienced in different parts of the Gamo area.

(11) Districts located to the south west of Chench district.

(12) Currently, it is common to have male circumcision practiced in health centers. This study has not explored how far "knife-free' male circumcision is still practiced on the ground.

(13) Konso-land is located about 100 kilometers to the south of Arba Minch town. Male circumcision that involves knifing is a taboo practice among the Knoso. An informant reported that Konso teen age boys practice knife-free male circumcision using a grass-like plant called hara'at which, like maxe of the Gamo area. These are claims of study participants; further research is required to explore whether male circumcision with hara'at or maxe is practiced among the Gamo and Konso respectively.

(14) The scientific name of enset (false banana) is enset ventricosum. Enset is one of the main sources of food for the Gamo and many other societies in central and southern Ethiopia.