Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Telling a Story With Data and Trends.

Female Genital

Mutilation/Cutting:Telling a Story With

Data and Trends

© 2009 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU

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).



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.



Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by AgePrevalence Among Younger and Older WomenPercent

9996

80 81

4440

97

81 80

62

28

20

Somalia 2006 Egypt 2008 Gambia 2005-06 Ethiopia 2005 Côte d'Ivoire2006

Kenya 2003

Ages 35-39 Ages 15-19

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



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

86

93

81

75

39

22

28

97 96

87

77

48

34

14

Sierra Leone2006

Djibouti 2006 Mali 2006 Burkina Faso2003

Guinea-Bissau2006

Senegal 2005 Nigeria 2003

Urban Rural




Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, Within CountriesPercent

2 4

13

27

44

27

9499

88

97

90

98

2832

36

7477

72

Senegal 2005 Kenya 2003 Côte d'Ivoire2006

Ethiopia 2005 Burkina Faso 2003Mauritania 2007

Lowest Region Highest Region National




Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by TypePrevalence by TypePercent

46

1

19

3 42

4

15

75 76

85

91

39

79

2

10

52

Eritrea 2002 Somalia 2006 Chad 2004 Mali 2006 Cameroon 2004 Tanzania 2004-05

Nicked, No Flesh Removed Flesh Removed Sewn Closed




FGM/C by Traditional and Nontraditional PractitionersPercent

99

89 8994 95

22

9589

9297

59

93

78

89

1 04 3 1

77

1

10

3 1

13

1

18

2

Traditional practitioner Doctor/nurse/trained midwife

Note: Data for Egypt and Sudan (North) refer to daughters’ experience.Sources: ORC Macro, Demographic and Health Surveys; UNICEF, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys.



Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by EducationPrevalence Among Women by Level of EducationPercent

50 52

7781

5458

85

34

97

31

21

71

80

3531

86

25

90

31

15

64

71

21 21

84

19

81

Chad 2004 Côte d'Ivoire2006

Ethiopia2005

Gambia2005-06

Guinea-Bissau 2006

Kenya 2003 Mali 2006 Senegal2005

SierraLeone 2006

None Primary Secondary +




Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, by WealthPrevalence by Wealth QuintilePercent

39

21

94

16

2319

138

64

26

98

7573

40

55

15

85 86

75

25

17

37 3632

46

97

82

71

5

42

24

86 85

Poorest Fifth Middle Fifth Richest Fifth




Trends in FGM/C Prevalence

25

4545

80

9497

19

36

45

74

8591

Percent of women ages 15-49, by survey year

2000 2008 1995-96 2006 2000 2005 2000 2004 1998-99 2006 1999 2003

Egypt Mali Ethiopia Chad Côte d’Ivoire Nigeria




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

93

74

84

36

18 16

89

66

75

9195

76

85

49

41

21

86

6369

89

Benin 2006

Burkina Faso 2003

Cameroon2004

Chad 2004

Guinea2005

Mali 2006

Niger 2006

Nigeria2003

Senegal2005

Tanzania2004-05

Women Men




Legal Status of FGM/C, by CountryLaws that specifically prohibit the practice:

BeninBurkina FasoCentral African Rep.Cote d’IvoireDjiboutiEgyptEritreaEthiopiaGhanaGuineaKenyaMauritaniaNigerSenegalTanzaniaTogo

No specific laws, but some provisions*:

CameroonChadGuinea-BissauMaliSudan (North)Uganda

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

No laws:

GambiaNigeriaSierra LeoneSomaliaYemen

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.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Telling a Story With Data and Trends.

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