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Rawat and Tirkey

increased awareness among younger generations about the negative sequences of FGM practice. Generally speaking,
women who have a higher socioeconomic status or more resources (in terms of education, wealth, and urban-rural
residence) tended to have a lower prevalence rate of FGM practice and a lower proportion of FGM practice performed
by traditional practitioners and were more likely to support the termination of such practice. These findings are
expected since more resourceful women could have more power to make their own decision to avoid harmful practice
to themselves and they are also more knowledgeable about the adverse impacts of FGM practice on their health (Diop
& Askew, 2009; Doucet et al., 2020; Santos-Hövener et al., 2015; UNICEF, 2022). Women who were exposed to social
media were tended to have a lower prevalence rate of FGM practice and were more likely to choose non-traditional
practitioners if they had to practice FGM. Literature has indicated that media exposure could play a major role in
spreading knowledge related women health and knowledge about harmfulness of FGM practice (Essén & Johnsdotter,
2004; Onuh et al., 2006; Kloning et al., 2018). Our finding supports such argument. Empowerment through education
is another important factor that helps in strengthening women and girls in decision making against FGM (Karmaker
et al., 2011; Williams-Breault, 2018). Our finding also supports such statement. Indeed, promoting education and
increasing exposure to social media are essential protective weapons to fight against these harmful traditional practices
and to help eradicate FGM practice.
One noteworthy finding is that Muslim women and women of Poular ethnicity are found to be more likely to
experience FGM practice and support the continuation of the practice, indicating that traditional beliefs and cultural
practices in these subpopulations in Senegal are strong (Muthumb et al., 2015). Senegal is a religiously and ethnically
diverse country where the majority of women belong to Muslim religion. The Muslim communities carry out several
phenomena for FGM practices (Duivenbode & Padela, 2019). Although they are hinged on some common themes,
that is, parents’ social status, the family’s honor, marriage opportunity, inherit practice, and many others social norms
(Muthumbi et al., 2015). Adoption of these practices among Muslin women is the common causes for high FGM
practices, sometimes girls/women accepting willingly and sometimes forcefully (Morrone et al., 2002). Apart from
religion, women’s ethnicity also causative in FGM practices. If girls/women from Poular ethnic group not accepting
FGM practice, they may not get respected from their communities and may have less chance to get married. These
factors are primarily responsible for continuation of FGM practices (Van Bavel, 2020; Shell-Duncan et al., 2021).
Institutional religious structure may also play a large role in sustaining FGM among Muslims women (Hayford &
Trinitapoli, 2011; Shakirat et al., 2020).
Finally, our study shows a significant association between FGM, knowledge about STIs/STSs, and the prevalence
STIs/STSs among reproductive age group women in Senegal, with FGM women having low knowledge about STIs/STSs
and higher prevalence of STIs/STSs. These findings highlight the importance of promotion of education and publicizing
the knowledge of adverse consequences of FGM practice on women’s health.

4.1. Limitations
Cautions are needed when interpreting our findings. First, the cross-sectional design of this study does not allow for an
investigation of long-term health effects among women who experienced FGM practice. Longitudinal panel studies are
clearly needed for understanding long-term effects. Second, no examinations for intermediate effects, no comparisons
over time, and no causal relationships between FGM and STIs/STSs were not performed due to data unavailability.
Relatedly, some factors related to family’s or husbands’ characteristics were not modeled, which may bias the associations
between our study variables and FGM practice. Third, information on the timing of FGM was not available. Furthermore,
some key factors related to STIs/STSs were not modeled, such as contraceptive use and sexual partner’s STIs/STSs,
which prohibited us from examining the reliable causal relationship between FGM and the prevalence of STIs/STSs.
Fourth, we only focused on consequences of FGM on STIs/STSs, while excluding its other negative consequences that
have been well-documented, such as physical and psychological (Diop & Askew, 2009; UNICEF, 2022; WHO, 2012). All
these could undermine the value of the current study. We welcome further studies address these limitations to shed light
on the theme.

4.2. Implications
Despite the limitations, the current study contributes to the field of women’s reproductive health and gender equality
in relation to SDGs. Women’s educational level, economic status, exposure to social media, urban-rural residence, and
ethnicity were found to be strong predictors of the FGM practice and the prevalence of STIs/STSs. These findings indicate
that effective intervention programs aiming to reduce or eliminate FGM practice should be targeted to rural women,

International Journal of Population Studies | 2021, Volume 7, Issue 1 109