Participant information
You are being invited to take part in a research project. Before you decide whether or not to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully.
Impact of migration on female circumcision in the United States
The information collected as part of this study may be used, in part or in whole, for the writing of a PhD, however, at no time would any personally identifiable data be collected or published.
What is the purpose of the research project?
This research study seeks to assess the ongoing risk to and support service requirements of those impacted by female circumcision in the United States. The study is being conducted in a few phases with, the survey phase available online for several months in 2023.
Why have I been invited to participate?
This survey seeks the views of women who are over the age of 18, who live in the United States, and who have ancestral links to a specific group of countries where female circumcision is known to take place. Those countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, UAE, Yemen, and Zambia.
Why should I take part?
Taking part in this research study could potentially benefit others by providing more robust research of the ongoing risk to, and support service requirements of those impacted by female circumcision in the United States.
Do I have to take part?
It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part in this research project. If you do decide to take part, you will be given this information sheet along with a privacy notice that will explain how your data will be collected and used. You will also be asked to provide your consent to participate. If you decide to take part, you are still free to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason. This means that you can say you do not want to be a part of this study whenever you want. We will not ask you why you don’t want to take part anymore.
What will happen to me if I take part?
If you do decide to take part in this research, then you will be asked to complete a short anonymous survey online. The survey should not take more than 15 minutes to complete. At the end of the survey, you will be asked if you wish to participate in a focus group discussion. If you do decide to participate in a focus group, you might be invited to a 2-hour online discussion of 8 to 12 participants on Zoom.
What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?
We recognise that conversations about female circumcision are sensitive. If you need support to talk through anything raised in the survey, then we will provide you with access to a range of support services, including by phone, email, or online support group.
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What Information will you collect about me?
We will ask you for your age, ancestry, and ZIP code and for your views on life in the United States. We will also ask you about your views, opinions, and experience of female circumcision.
Will what I say in this research project be kept confidential?
We won’t ask you for your name or anything else that identifies you. As a result, all your answers are completely anonymous. This means that no one will know who you are or what you said in the survey.
How will you look after the information you collect about me?
We need to ensure that you understand what will happen to the information we collect about you as well as your legal rights. This document is accompanied with a separate Privacy Notice providing further details, you can access this here. Your information will be gathered using encrypted software and will be stored on the university's R drive. This means it will be very secure.
Your normal rights under the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation apply. However, we need to manage your records in specific ways for the research project to be reliable. This means that we won’t [always] be able to let you see or change the information we hold about you.
At all times, this research study will comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR, 2018) approved by the EU parliament on 14 April 2016 and passing into UK law with effect from 25 May 2018.
What will happen to the results of the research project?
The results of this research project will be used for the writing of a PhD thesis. It will also be used to draft articles for publication and in presentations, and for educational purposes. However, since your information is being collected anonymously, you will not be identifiable in those materials. At the end of the survey, you will also be asked if you wish to receive a copy of the results once they are available.
What should I do if I want to take part?
If you do wish to take part, then simply say so on question 3 of the survey. Question 1 and 2 are designed to ensure that you meet the selection criteria. You will be asked to complete an Informed Consent Form and to opt-in to a variety of research options by ticking the boxes. This will confirm that you understand how your information will be processed, protected, and reviewed for research purposes.
Who is organising and funding the research project?
This research project is being conducted by Sean Callaghan, a research student in the School of Criminology at the University of Leicester. Sean has worked for over 30-years on sensitive topics, including female circumcision. He is Head of Research at the Orchid Project and has worked extensively in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
What if something goes wrong?
In the very unlikely event of you being harmed by taking part in this research project, there are no special compensation arrangements. If you are harmed due to someone’s negligence, then you may have grounds for legal action, but you may have to pay for it. If you feel upset by anything in the survey, then you will be given the option to be referred to specialist support services in the United States, including by phone, email and in-person support group.
Who has reviewed the research project?
This research project has been approved by the University of Leicester Research Ethics Committee in January 2023. Ethics application number: 29819.
Contact for Further Information
For further information on this research project, please contact Sean Callaghan at smc85@le.ac.uk.
If you have any concerns or queries about the way in which the research project has been conducted, please contact the Chair of the University Research Ethics Committee at ethics@le.ac.uk.
If you require more GDPR data protection information, then you can access this via the University’s Information Assurance Services:
Information Assurance Services
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester
LE1 7RH
T: +44 (0)116 229 7945
E: dpo@le.ac
W: https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ias
Thank you for your participation.
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Ethics application: 29819