In an obstetrics and gynecology service involving young women of African origin who are victims of genital excision and forced marriage, clinical treatments enable these women to retrace the traumatic experiences that led them to exile themselves. Through this work of historicization and elaboration, which aims to attenuate post-traumatic effects, one can discern, beyond the conscious motives and imperatives of survival, the role played by unconscious drive movements that have contributed to adolescents’ impulse to leave their family and cultural milieu.

Adolescence, 2025, 43, 2, 297-310.