SELECTED STATISTICS ON WOMEN’S STATUS

13% of women 20-24 years were married orin union before age 15

41% of women 20-24 years were married orin union before age 18

19% of women 20-24 years have given birthby age 18

51%Percentage of women 15-49 years oldwho think that a husband/partner isjustified in hitting/beating his wifeunder certain circumstances

47%of women 15-49 years make use of atleast one type of information media atleast once a week (newspaper, magazine,television or radio)

Source: DHS 2002 and Population and Health Survey 2010

Female genital mutilation (FGM) 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.”1 While the exact number of girls and women worldwide who have undergone FGM remains unknown, at least 200 million girls and women have been cut in 30 countries with representative data on prevalence. FGM 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 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 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.

STATISTICAL PROFILE ON FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

Data and Analytics SectionDIVISION OF DATA, RESEARCH AND POLICY

National legislation criminalizing FGM passed2007

ERITREA

© UNICEF Eritrea/2013/Azmera

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

FGM is highly prevalent among all girls and women of reproductive age living in Eritrea

WHEN AND HOW IS FGM PERFORMED?

Almost half of adolescent girls who underwent FGM were cut during the first year of life, and age at cutting is unknown for one in four

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 prevalence of FGM among daughters of mothers who are unsure about the continuation of the practice are based on 25-49 unweighted cases. Prevalence data for girls aged 0 to 14 reflect their current, but not final, FGM status since some girls who have not been cut may still be at risk of experiencing the practice once they reach the customary age for cutting. Therefore, the data on prevalence for girls under age 15 is actually an underestimation the true extent of the practice. Since age at cutting varies among settings, the amount of underestimation also varies and this should be kept in mind when interpreting all FGM prevalence data for this age group. ‘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: Population and Health Survey 2010, unless otherwise noted.

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 yearswho have undergone FGM, by region

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM, by residence and household wealth quintile

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

Percentage distribution of girls aged 15 to 19 years who have undergone FGM, by age at which cutting occurred

Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15 to 49 with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM, according to the type of person/

practitioner performing the procedure

Among daughters of cut girls and women, the percentage of women aged 15 to 49 years who have at least one daughter who has undergone FGM,

by mothers’ attitudes about whether the practice should continue

83 80

Total Poorest RichestRural Urban0

20

40

60

80

100 85 89

75 10% - 25%

26% - 50%

51% - 80%

Less than 10%

Above 80%

33 37 25

4032

13

41

22

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Rural Urban Noeducation

Primary Secondaryor higher

Poorest Richest

21

Middle

72 71

58

43

Daughters whosemothers thinkFGM should

continue

Daughters whosemothers are

unsure

Daughters whosemothers sayit depends

Daughters whosemothers think FGM

should stop

0

20

40

60

80

100

2-11 months

1 month

Under 1 month

1-4 years

5+ years

Don’t know/Missing0 20 40 60 80 100

21 11 16 13 14 24

Traditionalpractitioner

Health personnel

Don’t know/Missing

0.1

98

2

Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15 to 49 with at least one living daughter who has

undergone FGM, by type of FGM performed

Source: DHS 2002

52 38

6

4

Cut, flesh

Type not determined/Not sure/Don’t know

Cut, no flesh removed

Sewn closed

removed

WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM?

A majority of people in Eritrea think that FGM should stop

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

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

In Eritrea, there has been some decline in the prevalence of FGM over time

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

Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15-19 years and 45-49 years who have undergone FGM, by the type of FGM performed

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

advantages for a girl to undergo the procedure

Source for all of the above charts: Population andHealth Survey 2010, unless otherwise noted

0 20 40 60 80 100

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

Boys andmen

Girls andwomen

10 85

12 82 6

5

No benefits 77

Cleanliness/Hygiene 6

Social acceptance 10

Better marriage prospects 3

Preservation of virginity 6

Required by religion 1

Other 5

1221

5

21

6103 7 9

Total Poorest Richest No education Primary Middle Secondaryor higher

Rural Urban 45-49 years 15-19 years 0

20

40

60

80

100

16 17

0

20

40

60

80

100

15-19 years20-24 years25-29 years30-34 years35-39 years40-44 years45-49 years

93 93 90 88 8579

69

Prevalence of FGM Think FGM should continue

0

20

40

60

80

100

Population and Health Survey 2010DHS 2002DHS 1995

95

57

89

49

83

12

IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM CHANGING?

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

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

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

ERITREA

INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

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 since it is performed during initiation into the society. Egypt data refer to girls aged 1 to 14 years and Indonesia data refer to girls aged 0 to 11 years. An older source is used to report on the prevalence of FGM among girls aged 0 to 14 years for Gambia (MICS 2010) and Uganda (DHS 2011) since the latest source did not collect these data. MICS data for Ghana (2011) could not be used to report on attitudes towards FGM due to the fact that information is missing for girls and women with no living daughters; data from MICS 2006 are used instead. In Liberia, only cut girls and women were asked about their attitudes towards FGM; since girls and women from practicing communities are more likely to support the practice, the level of support in this country as captured by DHS 2013 is higher than would be expected had all girls and women been asked their opinion. Prevalence data on FGM for girls and women aged 15 to 49 years and data on attitudes towards FGM are not available for Indonesia.

Sources: DHS, MICS, Health Issues Survey, Population and Health Survey and RISKESDAS, 2004-2018.

Updated January 2019

FOR MORE INFORMATIONData and Analytics Section - Division of Data, Research and Policy

UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York, 10017Website: data.unicef.org Email: data@unicef.org

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