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 SELECTED STATISTICS ON WOMEN’S STATUS

DIVISION OF POLICY AND STRATEGY

Guinea

ETHIOPIA

Source: DHS 2005

49%24% 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

28% of women 20-24 years have given birth by age 18

81%of women 15-49 years think that a husband/partner is justified in hitting/beating his wife under certain circumstances

20%of women 15-49 years make use of at least one type of information media at least once a week (newspaper, magazine, television, radio)

2004 National decree/legislation banning FGM/C passed

Data and Analytics Section

© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-2259/Holt

98

74

100

0

89

77 74 68

49

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Muslim Roman Catholic

Other religion

Orthodox Christians

Traditional religion

Other type

Sewn closed

The practice of FGM/C is nonexistent among certain ethnic groups and universal in others

Nearly two in three girls are cut before the age of five

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

Traditionalpractitioner

Health personnel

Don’t know/Missing

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 region 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

Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C, by age at which cutting occurred

0 20 40 60 80 100 Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15 to 49

years with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C, by the type of FGM/C performed

Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C, by the type of person/practitioner performing the procedure

1064 1

0 20 40 60 80 100

3

53 5342 40

Daughters whosemothers thinkFGM/C should

continue

Daughters whosemothers are

unsure

Daughters whosemothers say it

depends

Daughters whosemothers think

FGM/C should stop

0

20

40

60

80

100

39 30

41

25 19

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rural Urban No education

Primary complete

Secondaryor higher

Ethnic group with lowest prevalence

Ethnic group with highestprevalence

Source: Welfare Monitoring Survey, 2011

24

Total

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C, by

residence and mother’s education

0

20

40

60

80

100

0-4 years

5-9 years

10-14 years

15+ years

Don’t know/Missing

22 3

10% - 25% 26% - 50%

51% - 80%

Less than 10%

Above 80%

Notes: The boundaries and the names shown and the designations used on the map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by 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. Data on the ethnic group with the lowest and highest FGM/C prevalence are based on 25-49 unweighted cases. The category for ‘Other Christians’ includes ‘Orthodox,’ which represents the majority of the population. The total prevalence among girls aged 0 to 14 years is from the Welfare Monitoring Survey, 2011. Disaggregated data are from the DHS 2005 since this data were not available from the Welfare Monitoring Survey. ‘Health personnel’ includes doctors, nurses, midwives and other health workers; ‘Traditional practitioner’ includes traditional circumcisers, traditional birth attendants, traditional midwives and other types of traditional practitioners. Questions on type of cutting only differentiated infibulation from non-infibulating forms of FGM/C.

WHEN AND HOW IS FGM/C PERFORMED?

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

Source for all charts on this page: DHS 2008, unless otherwise noted

21

96

4

71

OtherChristians

Among daughters of cut girls and women, the percentage of those who have undergone FGM/C, by mothers’ attitudes about whether the

practice should continue

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

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

Almost two in three girls and women think FGM/C should stop

Source: DHS 2005

Source for all of the above charts: DHS 2005

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

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

8074

66

31

0

20

40

60

80

100

DHS 2000 DHS 2005

Prevalence of FGM/C Think FGM/C should continue

There has been some decline in the prevalence of FGM/C in Ethiopia, with fewer adolescents having undergone the practice compared to older women

WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM/C?

IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM/C CHANGING?

81 82 81 78 78 73 62

0

20

40

60

80

100

45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19

31

48

14

41

20

5

78

38

23

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Poorest Richest No education Primary complete Secondary or higher

Ethnic group with highest support

Ethnic group with lowest support

45-49 years 15-19 years

17

6331 6

0

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

100 20 40 60 80

INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

ETHIOPIA

1 2 2 3 5 6 7 9 9 10 11 14 17 21

31 34 37 38 41 41 42 45 49

54

64 65 66 69 73

Benin

Togo

Ghana

Niger

Iraq

Camero

on

Ugand

a

Burkina

Faso

Kenya

Côte d'

Ivoire

Seneg

al

Nigeria

Ethiop

ia

Guinea

-Biss

au

Djibou

ti

Chad

Maurita

nia

Yemen

Sudan

Liberi

a

Eritrea

Egypt

Gambia

Somali

a

Sierra

Leon

e

Guinea

Mali

1 1 2 4 4 8

13 15 1724 26 27 27

38 44

50

66 69

74 76 76

88 88 89 89 91 93 96 98

0

20

40

60

80

100

Camero

on

Ugand

a

Niger

Ghana

To

go

Iraq

Benin

Yemen

Centra

l Afric

an

Repub

lic Seneg

al

Nigeria

Kenya

Côte d'

Ivoire

Chad

Guinea

-Biss

au

Liberi

a

Maurita

nia

Ethiop

ia

Burkina

Faso

Gambia

Sudan

Sierra

Leon

e Mali

Eritrea

Egypt

Djibou

ti

Guinea

Somali

a

United

Rep

ublic

of Ta

nzan

ia

0

20

40

60

80

100

Centra

l Afric

an

Repub

lic

United

Rep

ublic

of Ta

nzan

ia

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

Website: www.childinfo.org Email: childinfo@unicef.org

FOR MORE INFORMATIONSources: DHS, MICS, National Social Protection Monitoring Survey, SHHS and Welfare Monitoring Survey, 1997-2012

Released December 2013

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

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

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

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, for Nigeria from DHS 2008, 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.

0

20

40

60

80

100

0.4 1 1 1

1813 13 14

24 24

37

54 56

Togo

Ghana

Centra

l Afric

an

Repub

lic Ugand

a

Seneg

al

Sierra

Leon

e

Burkina

Faso

Nigeria

Egypt

Ethiop

ia

Sudan

Maurita

nia

Gambia

Côte d'

Ivoire

10

Yemen

15