WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/CUTTING? Edilberto Loaiza Ph.D. Strategic Information Section, DPP. UNICEF [email protected].

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/CUTTING?

Edilberto Loaiza Ph.D.

Strategic Information Section, DPP. UNICEF

[email protected]

Definition of FGM/C

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) includes “a range of practices involving the complete or partial removal or alteration of the external genitalia for non-medical reasons.”

Shell-Duncan, Bettina, and Yiva Hernlund, eds. 2000

FGM/C Violates the Rights of Girls and Women

• FGM/C violates girls’ and women’s fundamental human rights:

– It denies them of their right to physical and mental integrity

– It denies them of their right to freedom from violence and discrimination

– It denies them in the most extreme case the right to life

• An extreme example of discrimination based on sex

FGM/C: When and How

• The procedure is generally carried out on girls between the ages of 4 and 14

• it is also done to infants• women who are about to be married and, • It is often performed by traditional practitioners, including midwives/traditional birth attendants and barbers,

• using scissors, razor blades or broken glass

FGM/C: Indicators

• Prevalence(%) of FGM/C among women aged 15-49 • Prevalence(%) of FGM/C among daughters• Percentage of women 15-49 years old who believe

the practice of FGM/C should continue

FGM/C: Magnitude

• According to a WHO estimate, between 100 and 140

million women and girls in the world have undergone

some form of FGM/C (WHO, 2000)

• It is further estimated that up to three million girls in

sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and Sudan are at risk of

genital mutilation/cutting annually (Yoder et al. 2005)

Percentage of women aged 15-49 with FGM/C

FGM/C prevalence in Egypt, 2003

FGM/C prevalence in Kenya, 2003

FGM/C prevalence in Benin, 2001

FGM/C prevalence among women and daughters

DIFFERENTIALS OF FGM/C

Age of women Mother’s education Place of residence Ethnicity Religion Household wealth

Change of the practice over time: lower levels of FGM/C among younger generations (Women)

Change of the practice over time: lower levels of FGM/C among younger generations (Daughters)

Mother’s education is associated with the FGM/C status of their daughters

Rural women have significantly higher levels of FGM/C when total prevalence is below 75%

(except for Yemen and Nigeria)

Is FGM/C serving as an ethnic marker?

In the majority of countries, FGM/C is performed by traditional practicioners

BELIEFS vs. PRACTICESSUPPORT OF FGM/C

Support for the practice is not universal and it tends to vary within and between countries

Support for the continuation of FGM/C is substantially lower than the percentage of

women that has undergone the practice

SUPPORT OF FGM/CSocio-economic and demographic

differentials

Age Education Place of residence Religion Women’s empowerment

Decision-making in regard to health care, large household purchases,

Non-acceptance of wife-beating

Support for the continuation of FGM/C varies across countries and ages

In 10 of the 15 countries, support for the continuation of FGM/C is higher among women with “no education”

In most countries, women residing in rural areas tend to favour the continuation of FGM/C

Egyptian and Ethiopian women who support the continuation of FGM/C are respectively 3.2 and 2.1 times more likely to accept that a husband

is justified in beating his wife if she argues with her husband

PERCEIVED CAUSES/BENEFITS

Custom and tradition/good tradition Religion Other reasons

Preserves a girl’s virginity Protects her from becoming promiscuous Prevents her from engaging in immoral behaviours A girl can’t be married unless she is circumcised Hygiene and cleanliness FGM/C brings greater pleasure to husbands

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

FGM/C prevalence rates are slowly declining Attitudes towards FGM/C are slowly changing as more

and more women oppose its continuation Strategies to end FGM/C must be accompanied by

holistic, community-based education and awareness-raising

Programmes must be cross-country specific and adapted to reflect regional, ethnic and socioeconomic variances

Detailed disaggregation of data by socioeconomic variables can significantly enhance and strengthen advocacy efforts at the country level

“Even though cultural practices may appearsenseless or destructive from the standpoint of others, they have meaning and fulfil a functionfor those who practise them. However, cultureis not static; it is in constant fl ux, adapting andreforming. People will change their behaviourwhen they understand the hazards andindignity of harmful practices and when theyrealize that it is possible to give up harmfulpractices without giving up meaningful aspectsof their culture.”

Female Genital Mutilation, A jointWHO/UNICEF/UNFPA statement, 1997

Is religion associated with the FGM/C status of women?

How consistent is household wealth in determining the practice of FGM/C?

Support for the continuation of FGM/C is found in greater numbers among Muslim women

In Mali, women supporting the continuation of FGM/C are more likely to have their husbands

deciding on their own health care

MARRIAGEABILITY BENEFITS

• The belief that FGM/C is necessary to ensure better marriage prospects for a daughter is most widespread among women in Côte d’Ivoire (36 per cent), Niger (29 per cent) and Eritrea (25 per cent)

• Anthropological studies indicate that prospects for marriage and social connections through marriage are the main factors behind the persistence of FGM/C

• Changes will happen when the self-enforcing social convention nature of FGM/C will be addressed