STATISTICAL PROFILE ON FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/CUTTING

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) refers to “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where FGM/C is concentrated. As many as 30 million girls are at risk of being cut before their 15th birthday if current trends continue. FGM/C is a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights and is condemned by many international treaties and conventions, as well as by national legislation in many countries. Yet, where it is practised FGM/C is performed in line with tradition and social norms to ensure that girls are socially accepted and marriageable, and to uphold their status and honour and that of the entire family. UNICEF works with government and civil society partners towards the elimination of FGM/C in countries where it is still practised.

1. World Health Organization, Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation: An interagency statement, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIFEM, OHCHR, UNHCR, UNECA, UNESCO, UNDP, UNAIDS, WHO, Geneva, 2008, p. 4.

1

KEY STATISTICS ON WOMEN’S STATUS

DIVISION OF POLICY AND STRATEGY

Guinea

NIGERIA

Source: DHS 2013 and MICS 2011

43%17% of women 20-24 years were married or

in union before age 15

of women 20-24 years were married or in union before age 18

29% of women 20-24 years have given birth by age 18

35%of women 15-49 years think that a husband/partner is justified in hitting/beating his wife under certain circumstances

50%of women 15-49 years make use of at least one type of information media atleast once a week (newspaper, maga - zine, television or radio)

1999-2006 National legislation criminalizing FGM/C passed in some states

Data and Analytics Section

0 20 40 60 80 100

17 17 17 19 16 1419

13

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Rural Urban No education

Primary Secondary

9

More thansecondary

Poorest Richest

25

55

0.3

35 31 29 20

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Ethnic groupwith highestprevalence

Ethnic groupwith lowestprevalence

Traditionalist RomanCatholic

OtherChristians

Muslim

In Nigeria, the prevalence of FGM/C varies significantly by state

Almost all women experienced the practice before age 5

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

P 15-49 years who have at least one daughter who has had FGM/C, by place of residence and mother's education

Percentage of girls and women aged 15-49 yearswho have had FGM/C, by préfecture

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C, by state

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C, by ethnicity and religion

Percentage of girls aged 0 to 14 years who have undergone FGM/C (as reported by their mothers), by residence, mother's education and household wealth quintile

Among daughters of cut girls and women, the percentage of girls aged 0 to 14 years who have undergone FGM/C (as reported by their mothers),

by mothers' attitudes about whether the practice should continue

Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C, by age at which cutting occurred

Source for all charts on this page: DHS 2013,

Source: MICS 2011

unless otherwise noted

Notes: The boundaries and the names shown and the designations used on the map do not imply official endorsement or acceptanceby the United Nations. Only categories with 25 or more unweighted cases are presented. Due to rounding, some of the data presented may not add up to 100 per cent. Prevalence data for girls aged 0 to14 reflect their current, but not final, FGM/C status since some girlswho have not been cut may still be at risk of experiencing the practiceonce they reach the customary age for cutting. Therefore, the dataon prevalence for girls under age 15 is actually an underestimationof the true extent of the practice. Since age at cutting varies amongsettings, the amount of underestimation also varies and this shouldbe kept in mind when interpreting all FGM/C prevalence data for thisage group. ‘Health personnel’ includes doctors, nurses, midwives and other health workers; ‘Traditional practitioner’ includes traditionalcircumcisers, traditional birth attendants, traditional midwives and other types of traditional practitioners.

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

0-4 years

5-9 years

10-14 years

15+ years

Don’t know/Missing

Percentage distribution of most recently cut daughters, by daughter's age at cutting

Percentage distribution of girls aged 0 to 14 years who have undergone FGM/C (as reported by their mothers),

by type of FGM/C performed

Percentage distribution of girls aged 0 to 14 years who have undergone FGM/C (as reported by their mothers), according to the

type of person/practitioner performing the procedure

64

15

Daughters whosemothers thinkFGM/C should

continue

Daughters whosemothers are

unsure

Daughters whosemothers say it

depends

Daughters whosemothers think

FGM/C should stop

21

43

WHEN AND HOW IS FGM/C PERFORMED?

Traditionalpractitioner

Health personnel

Don’t know/Missing

Not sewnclosed

Sewn closed

Don’t know/Missing

0

20

40

60

80

100

10% - 25%

26% - 50%

51% - 80%

Less than 10%

Above 80%

82 4 5 7 2

12 2

87

3 5

93

Think FGM/C should continue Think FGM/C should stop Say it depends/are not sure

WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM/C?

IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM/C CHANGING?

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 who have undergone FGM/C, by current age

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years and boys and men aged 15 to 49 yearswho have heard about FGM/C, by their attitudes about whether the practice should continue

More than half of girls and women and boys and men think FGM/C should stop

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have heard about FGM/C and think the practice should continue, by household wealth quintile, education, ethnicity and age

There is evidence of significant generational change in the prevalence of FGM/C in Nigeria as women aged 45-49 are around twice as likely to have been cut than girls aged 15-19

Source for all above charts: DHS 2013

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C, by survey year

45-49 years 45-49 years

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years and boys and men aged 15 to 49 years who have heard of FGM/C and believe the

practice is required by religion

0

10

20

30

40

50

Boys and menGirls and women

15

23

31

16

2319

32

1

23 23

24

0 20 40 60 80 100

Girls andwomen

Boys andmen 62

13

1127

23 64

0

10

20

30

40

50

15-19 years45-49 yearsEthnic group withlowest support

Ethnic group withhighest support

Secondaryor higher

Primary complete

Noeducation

RichestPoorestTotal

29

0

10

20

30

40

50

15-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-49

36 3330 27

23 2215

0

20

40

60

80

100

DHS 2013MICS 2011MICS 2007

26 27 25

Notes: Trends in attitudes towards the practice are not included since findings from 1999, 2003 and 2008 (DHS) are not fully comparable. Similarly, data on the prevalence of FGM/C in 1999, 2003 and

2008 (DHS) are not included since findings are not fully comparable.

NIGERIA

INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

0

20

40

60

80

100

Somali

a

Guinea

Djibou

tiEgy

ptMali

Sierra

Leon

eSud

an

Eritrea

Gambia

Burkina

Faso

Ethiop

ia

Maurita

nia

Liberi

a

Guinea

-Biss

auCha

d

Côte d'

Ivoire

Kenya

Seneg

al

Nigeria

Centra

l Afric

an

Repub

licYem

en

United

Rep

ublic

of Tan

zaniaIra

qBen

inTog

o

Ghana

Niger

Ugand

a

Camero

on

0

20

40

60

80

100

GuineaMali

Sierra

Leon

e

Somali

a

Gambia

Egypt

Liberi

aSud

an

Yemen

Maurita

niaCha

d

Djibou

ti

Guinea

-Biss

au

Ethiop

ia

Nigeria

Seneg

al

Côte d'

Ivoire

Eritrea

Centra

l Afric

an

Repub

licKenya

Burkina

Faso

Ugand

a

Camero

onNige

r

United

Rep

ublic

of Tan

zaniaIra

q

Ghana

Benin

Togo

1 1 2 4 4 7 8 15 17

24 25 26 27

38 44

50

66 69 74 76 76

88 88 89 83

91 93 97 98

2 2 2 5 6 6 7 9 9 10 11 12 14 17 23

31 34 37 38 41 41 42 4554

64 65 66 73 76

Notes: Data on attitudes for Yemen refer to ever-married girls and women. In Liberia, girls and women who have heard of the Sande society were asked whether they were members; this provides indirect information on FGM/C since it is performed during initiation into the society. Egypt data refer to girls aged 0-17 years who have undergone FGM/C. Data on attitudes for Ghana are from MICS 2006 and for Sierra Leone from DHS 2008 as data from the most recently available MICS surveys are not comparable. In Liberia, only cut girls and women were asked about their attitudes towards FGM/C; since girls and women from practising communities are more likely to support the practice, the level of support in this country as captured by the DHS 2007 is higher than would be anticipated had all girls and women been asked their opinion.

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have heard about FGM/C and think the practice should continue

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C

n - Division of Policy and Strategy UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York, 10017

Website: data.unicef.org Email: data@unicef.org

FOR MORE INFORMATIONSources: DHS, MICS, National Social Protection Monitoring Survey, Population and Health Survey, SHHS and Welfare Monitoring Survey, 1997-2013 Updated July 2014

These country profiles were made possible through core funding to UNICEFand financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of these country profiles are the sole responsibility of UNICEF and can in no way reflect the viewsof the European Union.

The Data and Analytics Section gratefully acknowledges inputs shared by UNICEF country offices.

Data and Analytics Sectio

0.3 0.4 1 1 110 13 13

46

0

20

40

60

80

100

Gambia

Maurita

nia

Guinea

Sudan

Eritrea

Ethiop

iaEgy

pt

Seneg

al

Nigeria

Yemen

Burkina

Faso

Sierra

Leon

e

Côte d'

Ivoire

Ugand

a

Centra

l Afric

an

Repub

licGhana

Togo

Benin

1824 24

33

17

Percentage of girls aged 0 to 14 years who have undergone FGM/C (as reported by their mothers)

37

15

54 56