POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU | Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting: Telling a Story with Trends.

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Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting: Telling a Story with Trends

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Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Overview An estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women worldwide

have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and more than 3 million girls are at risk for cutting each year on the African continent alone.1

FGM/C is generally performed on girls between ages 4 and 12, although it is practiced in some cultures as early as a few days after birth or as late as just prior to marriage.

According to a 2006 WHO study, FGM/C can be linked to increased complications in childbirth and even maternal deaths.

1 P. Stanley Yoder and Shane Khan, Numbers of Women Circumcised in Africa: The Production of a Total (Calverton, MD: ORC Macro, March 2008).


Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Overview continued

FGM/C is practiced in at least 28 countries in Africa and a few others in Asia and the Middle East.

FGM/C is practiced at all educational levels and in all social classes and occurs among many religious groups, although no religion mandates it.


Types of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Type 1 or Clitoridectomy: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the clitoral hood.

Type 2 or excision: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora.

Type 3 or Infibulation: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and placing together the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris.

Type 4 or Unclassified: All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for nonmedical purposes, for example, pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, and cauterization.

Note: Current questionnaires used in the Demographic and Health Surveys do not differentiate between Types I and II, but only between whether a girl or woman has been cut, whether tissue has been removed, and whether tissue has been sewn closed.


Source: ORC Macro, Demographic and Health Surveys; UNICEF, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by Age

9996

80 81

44

35

97

81 80

62

28

15

Somalia 2006 Egypt 2008 Gambia 2005-06

Ethiopia 2005 Côte d'Ivoire2006

Kenya 2008

Ages 35-39 Ages 15-19

Prevalence Among Younger and Older WomenPercent


Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by ResidencePrevalence Among Urban and Rural AreasPercent

8693

8176

39

22

37

97 96

87

71

48

34

26

SierraLeone 2006

Djibouti2006

Mali 2006 BurkinaFaso 2006

Guinea-Bissau2006

Senegal2005

Nigeria2008

Urban Rural


Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, Within Countries

2 1

13

27

1

27

9498

88

97

87

98

28 27

36

74

58

72

Senegal 2005 Kenya 2008-09

Côte d'Ivoire2006

Ethiopia 2005 Liberia 2007 Mauritania2007

Lowest Region Highest Region National

Percent


Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by Type

Prevalence by TypePercent

46

1

19

3 2 24

15

75 76

83

91

39

79

2

1013

2

Eritrea 2002 Somalia 2006 Chad 2004 Mali 2006 Kenya 2008-09

Tanzania2004-05

Nicked, No Flesh Removed Flesh Removed Sewn Closed



Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting by Traditional and Nontraditional PractitionersPercent

99

8994 95

66

9589

78

9297

74

9389

1 4 3 1

32

1

10

20

3 1

9

1 2

Traditional practitioner Doctor/nurse/trained midwife


Note: Data for Egypt and Sudan (North) refer to daughters’ experience.


Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by Education

Prevalence Among Women by Level of EducationPercent

50 52

7781

54 54

85

34

97

31

21

71

80

35

26

86

25

90

31

15

6471

21 19

84

19

81

Chad2004

Côted'Ivoire2006

Ethiopia2005

Gambia2005-06

Guinea-Bissau2006

Kenya2008-09

Mali2006

Senegal2005

SierraLeone2006

None Primary Secondary +



Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by Wealth

Prevalence by Wealth QuintilePercent

15

85

55

40 39

21

95

73 75

26

9498

1725

3729 32

16

95

75

86

46

82

97

5

42

2315 13

8

7871

64

24

86 85

Poorest Fifth Middle Fifth Richest Fifth



Trends in Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting PrevalencePercent of women ages 15-49, by survey year

9794

80

45 45

38

9185

74

45

36

27


2000 2008 1995-96

2006 2000 2005 2000 2004 1998-99

2006 1999 2008-09

Egypt Mali Ethiopia Chad Cote d’Ivoire

Kenya


Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, AttitudesWomen and Men Who Have Heard of the Practice and Believe It Should be Discontinued

Percent

93

84

36 35

18 16

89

62

75

9195

85

49

27

41

21

86

6469

89

Benin2006

Cameroon2004

Chad 2004

Egypt2008

Guinea2005

Mali 2006

Niger2006

Nigeria2008

Senegal2005

Tanzania2004-05

Women Men



Legal Status of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by Country

Laws that specifically prohibit the practice:

BeninBurkina FasoCentral African Rep.Cote d’IvoireDjiboutiEgyptEritreaEthiopiaGhanaGuineaKenyaMauritaniaNigerSenegalTanzaniaTogoUganda

Sources: Center for Reproductive Rights, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM); Legal Prohibitions Worldwide; Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices, International, Regional and Legal Instruments for the Protection of Women and Girls Against FGM/C; Inter-Parliamentary Union, Legislation and Other National Provisions; Women’s United Nations Report Network, FGM Legislation for 25 African Countries – Female Genital Mutilation.

No specific laws, but some provisions*:

CameroonChadGuinea-BissauMaliSudan (North)

*Existing provisions of ciiminal codes have been or can be applied to FGM/C

No Laws:

GambiaNigeriaSierra LeoneSomaliaYemen

POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU | Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting: Telling a Story with Trends.

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