Page 104 - IJPS-7-1

International Journal of Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Female genital mutilation

practice, associated factors, and

its consequences on women’s

reproductive health in Senegal

Ramu Rawat * and Noli Nivedita Tirkey 2
1
1 International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Govandi Station Road, Deonar,
Mumbai 400088, India
2 Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai 400088, India

Abstract: Female genital mutilation (FGM) practice is unhygienic and unhealthy traditional
practices which have affected girls and women’s health adversely for all-time, and such practice
is prevalent in many African countries. This study intended to examine factors associated with the
ARTICLE INFO FGM prevalence, attitudes toward the discontinuation of the practice, and consequences of FGM
practice on reproductive health in terms of sexual transmitted infections/symptoms (STIs/STSs)
Received: March 18, 2022 among women of reproductive ages in Senegal. To fulfill the study objective on factors associated
Accepted: November 1, 2022
Published: November 17, 2022 the prevalence of FGM and attitudes toward the continuation of FGM practice, the 2019 Senegal
Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data sets were used based on binary logit and multinomial logit
*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR regression models. The results show that rural areas, married women, women of Muslim religion,
Ramu Rawat, Poular women, women of lower education and lower wealth, and women who were never exposed to
International Institute for social media reported a higher prevalence rate of FGM and were more likely to support continuation
Population Sciences (IIPS), of FGM practice. To fulfill the research goal on consequences of FGM practice on STIs/STSs, the
Govandi Station Road, Deonar, 2010 – 2011 DHS was employed because the 2019 DHS did not collect data on STIs/STSs. FGM
Mumbai 400088, India. practice was associated with lower knowledge about STIs/STSs and higher prevalence of STIs/
ramu.iips@gmail.com STSs. Our findings suggest that education promotion, poverty reduction, rural development, and

CITATION dissemination of the adverse consequences of FGM practice could help reduce FGM practices.
These findings could have important implications for achieving the sustainable development goals.
Rawat, R., & Tirkey, N.N.,
(2021). Female genital Keywords: Female genital mutilation; Traditional practices; Sexually transmitted
mutilation practice, associated infections; Attitude; Senegal
factors, and its consequences
on women’s reproductive
health in Senegal. International 1. Introduction
Journal of Population Studies,
7(1):98-114. 1.1. Status quo of the female genital mutilation practice
doi: 10.18063/ijps.v7i1.292
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined female genital mutilation (FGM) as all
Copyright: ©2022
Rawat and Tirkey. This is procedures which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia and
an Open-Access article injury to the female genital organs, whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic
distributed under the terms reasons (WHO, 2012). FGM, also known as female genital circumcision or female genital
of the Creative Commons cutting (FGC), is an umbrella term being used to cover various methods that involve
Attribution-Non-Commercial
4.0 International License partial or complete cutting of female genitals, which is commonly performed during
(http://creativecommons.org/ childhood. FGC is carried out using knives, razors, scissors, or sometimes pieces of glass
licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting and blunt blades, etc. In some rare traditional cases, it has also been reported to use other
all non-commercial use, various tools to perform genital cutting like sharp stones (Banks et al., 2006; WHO, 2022).
distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the Regardless of tools that it uses, FGM is an unhygienic and unhealthy traditional practice
original work is properly cited. which affected girls and women’s health all time (Diop & Askew, 2009).

98 International Journal of Population Studies | 2021, Volume 7, Issue 1