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

MALI

Source: DHS 2006 and MICS 2010

55%15% 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

46% of women 20-24 years have given birthby age 18

87%of women 15-49 years think that a husband/partner is justified in hitting orbeating his wife under certaincircumstances

75%of women 15-49 years make use of atleast one type of information media atleast once a week (newspaper, maga -zine, television or radio)

No national decree/legislation banning FGM/C

Data and Analytics Section

© UNICEF/MLIA2012-00877/Bindra

74 75 74 76 71 68

78 70

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Rural Urban No education Primary complete

Secondary or higher

Richest Poorest

89 98

13

89 88 86 84

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Ethnic group withhighest prevalence

Muslim No religion Animist Christian

16

71

3 113

96

1

Around 9 out of 10 girls and women in Mali have undergone FGM/C

Almost all girls experienced the practice before age 5

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

WHEN AND HOW IS FGM/C PERFORMED?

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

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 and women aged 15 to 49 years with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C, by residence, mother's education and household wealth quintile

Daughters whose mothers think

FGM/C should continue

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 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, according

to the type of person/practitioner performing the procedure

89

0 20 40 60 80 100

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

WHEN AND HOW IS FGM/C PERFORMED?

Daughters whosemothers are

unsure

Daughters whose mothers sayit depends

Daughters whosemothers think

FGM/C should stop

29 1

0-4 years

5-9 years

10-14 yearsDon’t know/Missing

0

20

40

60

80

100 84

81

67

58

Traditionalpractitioner

Health personnel

Don’t know/Missing

Cut, flesh removed

Type not determined/Not sure/Don’t know

Cut, no flesh removed/Nicked

Sewn closed

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

Ethnic group withlowest prevalence

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. ‘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.

Source for all charts on this page: MICS 2010

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

0 20 40 60 80 100

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

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

Percentage of boys and men aged 15 to 49 years who have heard about FGM/C, by theirattitudes about whether the practice should continue

One in three girls and women think FGM/C is necessary for social acceptance, while one in four think it is a religious requirement

Among girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have heard about FGM/C, the percentage who cite specific benefits or advantages

for a girl to undergo the procedure

No benefits

More sexual pleasure for the man

Cleanliness/Hygiene

Social acceptance

Better marriage prospects

Preservation of virginity

Required by religion

Other

Don’t know

17

22

37

10

12

7

24

16

N/A

Source for all of the above charts: MICS 2010, unlessotherwise noted

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, by survey year

92 8580 76

0

20

40

60

80

100

DHS 2001 DHS 2006

Prevalence of FGM/C Think FGM/C should continue

There is no evidence of decline in the prevalence of FGM/C among girls and women in Mali but attitudes towards the practice have slightly changed over time

WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM/C?

IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM/C CHANGING?

2269 9

Source: DHS 2006

MICS 2010

8973

Notes: N/A = not available. Data on women’s attitudes cannot be directly compared with men’s attitudes since the data source for girls and women is more recent than that for boys and men. Data on FGM/C were also collected in the 1995-1996 DHS but did not cover the district of Kidal (an area of very low prevalence) and underrepresented the districts of Tombouctou (an area of higher prevalence) and Gao (an area of very low prevalence). Therefore, the prevalence and levels of support for the practice were likely to be slightly higher in 1995-1996 than recorded by the survey. However, the size of that increase cannot be calculated with precision so the 1995-1996 survey is not included in the trend analysis since it cannot be directly compared with later surveys.

73 74 68

7771

58

85

11

74 70

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

89 89 90 89 88 88 88

0

20

40

60

80

100

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

INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

MALI

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 17 24 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

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

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION

United

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Centra

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Repub

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United

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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 with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C

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

Sources: DHS, MICS, National Social Protection Monitoring Survey and SHHS, 1997-2012

0

20

40

60

80

100

1 1 2 3 3 8

18

39 46 49

57 63

74

Niger

Camero

on

Benin Ira

q

Kenya

Chad

Guinea

-Biss

au

Somali

a

Djibou

ti

Guinea

Eritrea

Mali

United

Rep

ublic

Tanz

ania

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. Data on daughters for Iraq refer to ever-married girls and women with at least one daughter who has 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 cutgirls 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.