% pubman genre = article
@article{item_3588561,
title = {{Abandoning female genital mutilation/cutting (FGMC) is an emerging but costly parental investment strategy in rural Ethiopia}},
author = {Gibson, Mhairi A. and Gurmu, Eshetu and Chua, Regina and Van Bavel, Hannelore and Myers, Sarah},
language = {eng},
issn = {02779536},
doi = {10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116170},
year = {2023},
date = {2023},
abstract = {{Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGMC) has profound consequences for an estimated 200 million women {\textless}br{\textgreater}world-wide, yet affected communities often resist efforts to end the practice. Marriage market dynamics have {\textless}br{\textgreater}been proposed as key to this resistance, because where FGMC is normative, parents are motivated to cut their {\textless}br{\textgreater}daughters to improve their marriage prospects. Some economists have also argued that financial gain, through {\textless}br{\textgreater}bride wealth payments, incentivises parents to cut daughter{\textquoteright}s at time of marriage. Bride wealth, however, does {\textless}br{\textgreater}not necessarily equal net economic return, confounding efforts to test this assumption. Here we use detailed data {\textless}br{\textgreater}on the financial value of all exchanges at marriage from Ethiopian Arsi Oromo agropastoralists to assess their {\textless}br{\textgreater}association with FGMC. We also explore the idea that parents must replace FGMC with other forms of investment {\textless}br{\textgreater}(e.g., education) when cutting practices are rejected. Multivariate multilevel Bayesian models were run using {\textless}br{\textgreater}data from the first marriages of 358 women to assess the association between FGMC status and education and {\textless}br{\textgreater}marriage-related outcomes: bride wealth payments, dowry costs, and age at marriage. Being cut is associated {\textless}br{\textgreater}with lower dowry costs and earlier age at marriage but does not predict bride wealth paid by the groom{\textquoteright}s family. {\textless}br{\textgreater}School attendance is associated with higher bride wealth, particularly for women with four or more years of {\textless}br{\textgreater}education, and with later age at marriage. These findings indicate that bride wealth payments do not maintain {\textless}br{\textgreater}FGMC among the Arsi Oromo. While we find a relative economic loss for parents from FGMC abandonment {\textless}br{\textgreater}through higher value dowry gifts, this may be traded-off against the health benefits to uncut daughters. These {\textless}br{\textgreater}findings point to the emergence of new norms, whereby Arsi Oromo parents reject cutting for their daughters and {\textless}br{\textgreater}prefer their daughters-in-law to be educated.}},
journal = {{Social Science {\&} Medicine}},
volume = {335},
eid = {116170},
}