Research team
Expertise
Hanne Apers (she/her) is a senior researcher at the Centre for Demography, Family and Health. Her research interests lie in the relationship between migration, culture, and health. She previously worked on HIV prevention, including with sub-Saharan African migrants, and on international research projects to facilitate access to health care for people with a migration background. Her doctoral research focused on the perception of mental health among East African newcomers: what does 'mental health' mean to them and how does it influence their potential help-seeking behavior? She also examined how healthcare providers in Belgium experience these perceptions in their daily work and how this influences their approach. After completing her doctorate in February 2024, Hanne currently works as a postdoctoral researcher on projects focusing on health inequalities, primarily among people with a migration background.
Negotiating gender and medicalization: adolescent girls' perceived agency of FGM/C decision-making among the Maasai in Kenya.
Abstract
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) remains a widespread practice with complex cultural, social, and health incentives and implications. In Kenya, particularly among the Maasai community in Narok County, the criminalisation of FGM/C has profoundly transformed how the practice is understood and performed. Once a communal rite of passage, it has become an individualised and ambiguous decision, increasingly shaped by adolescent girls themselves. This project examines how Maasai girls negotiate their gender identity, social belonging, and perceived decision-making power concerning FGM/C within this evolving socio-legal landscape. Through qualitative, in-depth interviews, the study explores (1) how adolescent girls navigate conflicting meanings of FGM/C within existing gender discourses and how these negotiations shape their gender identities, and (2) how the medicalisation of FGM/C shapes their decision-making processes, including their acceptance, rejection, or re-interpretation of the practice and cultural belonging. Conducted through co-creation and close collaboration with Kenyan researchers, community leaders, and grassroot NGOs, the project adopts a reflexive, participatory, and ethically grounded design that prioritises cultural sensitivity and local engagement. The study contributes to global and national agendas on gender equality (UN SDG 5.3) and women's rights. It advances sociological and gender-theoretical understanding of health and medicalisation by centring adolescent girls' voices and lived experiences, offering a nuanced and contextually grounded perspective on perceived agency and identity formation within changing gender regimes.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Apers Hanne
Research team(s)
Project type(s)
- Research Project