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 KEY STATISTICS ON WOMEN’S STATUS
DIVISION OF POLICY AND STRATEGY
Guinea
© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-1831/Noorani
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
Source: DHS 2010
37% 7%
28%
54%
64%
1998 National decree/legislation banning FGM/C passed
Data and Analytics Section
of women aged 20 to 24 years were married or in union before age 15
of women aged 20 to 24 years were married or in union before age 18
of women aged 20 to 24 years have given birth before age 18
of women aged 15 to 49 years think that a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances
of women aged 15 to 49 years make use of at least one type of information media at least once a week (newspaper, magazine, television or radio)
15 17 8
25
6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Total Rural Urban Poorest Richest
1
98
2 0.4
99
0.4
Cut, flesh removed
Cut, no flesh removed/Nicked
In Tanzania, the prevalence of FGM/C varies significantly by region
Almost half of girls experience 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
Traditionalpractitioner
Health personnel
Don’t know/Missing
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 residence and household wealth quintile
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
4035
14
Daughters whosemothers thinkFGM/C should
continue
Daughters whosemothers say it
depends
Daughters whosemothers think
FGM/C should stop
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 age at which cutting occurred
0 20 40 60 80 100
Source for all charts on this page: DHS 2010
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. There is no ethnicity or religion data for Tanzania. Data on the prevalence of FGM/C among daughters whose mothers say it depends are based on 25-49 unweighted cases. ‘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.
Sewn closed
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
0-4 years
5-9 years
10-14 years
15+ years
Don’t know/Missing
2246 21 10
0 20 40 60 80 100
HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?
WHEN AND HOW IS FGM/C PERFORMED?
3 4 1
5 3 0.2
5 0.4
Total Rural Urban No education
Primary complete
Secondary or higher
Poorest Richest 0
10
20
30
40
50
1
10% - 25%
26% - 50%
51% - 80%
Less than10%
Above 80%
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 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
Source: DHS 2004-2005
Among cohabiting couples, percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years and percentage of boys and men aged 15 to 49 years
who have heard about FGM/C, according to their agreement/disagreement on whether FGM/C should continue
or be discontinued
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, residence 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
18 15N/A
5
0
20
40
60
80
100
DHS 1996 DHS 2004-2005
Prevalence of FGM/C Think FGM/C should continue
There is evidence of significant generational change in the prevalence of FGM/C in Tanzania as women aged 45-49 are three times more likely to have been cut than girls aged 15-19
WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM/C?
IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM/C CHANGING?
Most couples in Tanzania agree that FGM/C should stop
899 3
Notes: N/A = not available. There are no ethnicity data for Tanzania. 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 attitudes towards FGM/C were not collected in the DHS 1996.
DHS 2010
156
6 10
1
12
5 1
7 2
6 3
0
10
20
30
40
50
Total Poorest Richest No education Primary complete Secondary or higher
Rural Urban 15-19 years 45-49 years
22 22 22 1912 11
7
0
10
20
30
40
50
45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19
Both want FGM/C to continue
Both want FGM/C to stop
Both are undecided
1
81
0
Discordant 18
Source for all of the above charts: DHS 2010, unlessotherwise noted
Source: DHS 2004-2005
INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
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 1724 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
ction - Division of Policy and Strategy UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York, 10017
Website: www.childinfo.org Email: [email protected]
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C
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
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 Se
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
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.
Sources: DHS, MICS, National Social Protection Monitoring Survey and SHHS, 1997-2012