Learning about Social Change: A Research and Evaluation Guidebook Using Female Circumcision as a Case Study

A guide on conducting research and evaluation to understand and effect social change. The book uses female circumcision/female genital mutilation (FC/FGM) as a case study and discusses experiences of researchers in the field who have worked on the subject highlighting methodologies and approaches that have proved effective. While the specifics in the book are related to FC/FGM, many of the approaches described could also be applicable for research on sensitive and related issues, such as sexuality and domestic violence. The book examines the process of social change which occurs both naturally and as a result of specific interventions.

Susan Izett, MPH, received her degree in Public Health from Columbia University. She has worked as a program officer at RAINBO for the past four years. Previously, Ms. Izett worked fro the Trachoma Task Force at Helen Keller International and for the Children's Program at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. Her past research includes a national survey on immunizations for the Ecole Nationale de Medicine in Bamako, Mali; an evaluation of a neo-natal referral system at Harlem Hospital; and an assessment of the trachoma rapid identification method in Tanzania. She is co-author, with Nahid Toubia, of Female Genital Mutilation: An Overview, published by the World Health Organization.

Nahid Toubia, MD, was born in Kharoum, Sudan in 1951, and attended medical school in Egypt. In 1981 she became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in England and the first woman surgeon in Sudan. She served as the head of the Pediatric Surgery Department at the Khartoum Teaching HOspital for many years. She worked for fifteen years as a health care provider to women in Sudan and Egypt, and to Ethiopian refugee communities, dealing with the health consequences of FC/FGM. Recently, she worked for four years as an Associate for Women's Reproductive Health at the Population Council in New York City. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Columbia University School of Public Health and President of RAINBO [Research, Action and Information Network for the Bodily Integrity of Women] in New York. She is also a member of several scientific and advisory committees of the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNDP, and Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Women's Rights Watch Project of Human Rights Watch where she previously served on the Board of Directors. She publishes widely on issues of reproductive health, women's rights, and gender inequality particularly in Africa and the Middle East.