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.

1SELECTED STATISTICS ON WOMEN’S STATUS

DIVISION OF POLICY AND STRATEGY

Guinea

GHANA

Source: DHS 2008 & MICS 2011

21%5% 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

16% of women 20-24 years have given birthby age 18

44%of women 15-49 years think that a husband/partner is justified in hittingor beating his wife under certain circumstances

83%of women 15-49 years make use of atleast one type of information media atleast once a week (newspaper, maga-zine, television, or radio)

1994 National decree/legislation banning FGM/C passed (amended in 2007)

Data and Analytics Section

© UNICEF/NYHQ2007-0937/Asselin

Richest

4

30

0 12

5 4 1 1 0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Muslim Roman Catholic

No religion Other Christians Other religion

8

68

17

7 9

84

Less than five per cent of girls and women of reproductive age in Ghana have undergone FGM/C, with those in certain ethnic groups more likely to have experienced the practice

The vast majority of girls were cut before age five

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 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 aged 0 to 14 years who have undergone FGM/C (as reported by their mothers), by age at which cutting occurred

0

Source for all charts on this page: MICS 2011, unless otherwise noted

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

0 20 40 60 80 100

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

WHEN AND HOW IS FGM/C PERFORMED?

0-4 years

5-9 years

10-14 years 3

15+ years

Don’t know/Missing

83 8

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

15

7 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

24

5

Daughters whosemothers thinkFGM/C should

continue

Daughters whosemothers think

FGM/C should stop

0

20

40

60

80

100

Ethnic group with highestprevalence

Ethnic group with lowestprevalence

1 1 0.3 2 0.3 0 2 0.3 0

10

20

30

40

50

Total Rural Urban No education

Primary complete

Secondary or higher

Poorest

10% - 25%

26% - 50%

51% - 80%

Less than 10%

Above 80%

Source: MICS 2006

TraditionalReligion

10

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 upto 100 per cent. Data on the prevalence of FGM/C among girls and women with ‘other religion,’ the prevalence of FGM/C among daughters whose mothers think FGM/C should continue and on age at cutting among daughters are based on 25-49 unweighted cases. Prevalence data for girls aged 0 to 14 reflect their current, but not final, FGM/C 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 of 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/C prevalence data for this age group. Older data are used to report on age at cutting since data from the most recent survey includes some girls aged 0 to 14 yearswho have not undergone FGM/C but are still at risk of experiencing the practice once they have reached the customary age for cutting. ‘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.

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 all girls and women in Ghana think that FGM/C should stop

Source: MICS 2011

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

5 4N/A N/A

0

20

40

60

80

100

DHS 2003 MICS 2011

Prevalence of FGM/C Think FGM/C should continue

The practice of FGM/C has been systematically very low throughout the years

WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM/C?

IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM/C CHANGING?

Notes: N/A = not available. MICS 2011 data are not used to report on attitudes towards FGM/C due to the fact that information is missing for girls and women with no living daughters. Data on attitudes were not collected in the DHS 2003.

MICS 2006

4 2

2 4 1 3 2 2

5 1 2 1

0

10

20

30

40

50

Total Poorest Richest No education Primary complete Secondary or higher

Ethnic group with highest support

Ethnic group with lowest support

15-19 years 45-49 years

6 7 6 4 3 2 2

45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 0

10

20

30

40

50

Note: MICS 2011 data from Ghana are not used to report on attitudes towards FGM/C due to the fact that information is missing for girls and women with no living daughters.

932 5

0

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

100 20 40 60 80

Source: MICS 2006

Source: MICS 2006

INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

GHANA

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

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

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)

17

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