STATISTICAL COUNTRY 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.” At least 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 practiced 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

DIVISION OF POLICY AND STRATEGY

SOMALIA

Source: MICS 2006

45%8% of women 20-24 years old married or in

union before age 15

of women 20-24 years old married or in union before age 18

25% of women 15-24 years old that are able to read a short simple statement about everyday life

76%of ever-married women 15-49 years old think that a husband/partner is justified in hitting/beating his wife under certain circumstances

15% of women 15-49 years old in union

currently using any contraceptive

method

No national decree/legislation banning FGM/C

KEY STATISTICS ON WOMEN’S STATUS

Data and Analytics Section

© UNICEF Somalia/2012/Dhayi

46 48 45 55

44 47 43 49 48

20

0

40

60

80

100

Total Urban Rural Secondary orhigher

Primary complete

No education

Poorest Richest

0

20

40

60

80

5

25

7 Cut, flesh removed

Type not determined/Not sure/Don’t know

Cut, no flesh removed/Nicked

FGM/C is nearly universal among girls and women in Somalia

The vast majority of girls experience the practice between the ages of 5 and 9, and more than half undergo the most severe form of FGM/C

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 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 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

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: MICS 2006

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 Somalia.

Sewn closed

0-4 years

5-9 years

10-14 years

Don’t know/Missing

826 1

0 20 40 60 80 100

HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE PRACTICE?

WHEN AND HOW IS FGM/C PERFORMED?

11

63

100 98 98 97 98 96

Total Rural Urban Poorest Richest

Koranic/non-standard

curriculum

65

3

33

Daughters whosemothers thinkFGM/C should

continue

Daughters whosemothers say it depends /

are not sure

Daughters whosemothers think

FGM/C should stop

0

20

40

60

80

100

10% - 25%

26% - 50%

51% - 80%

Less than 10%

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

WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM/C?

IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM/C CHANGING?

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

Almost two thirds of girls and women think the practice should continue

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

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

There has been no change in the prevalence of FGM/C over time

Notes: N/A = not available. There are no ethnicity data for Somalia. In Somalia, questions on FGM/C were included in the 2011 MICS conducted separately in the Northeast Zone (also referred to as Puntland) and Somaliland. Data are preliminary and do not allow for the calculation of national figures.

In Northeast Zone and Somaliland, percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 who have undergone FGM/C, by age groups

0

20

40

60

80

100

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

99 98 99 99 98 98 97

65

78

47

69

53 47

65 72

54 64 60

0

20

40

60

80

100

Total Poorest Richest No education Primary complete

Secondary or higher

Koranic/non-standardcurriculum

Rural Urban 45-49 years 15-19 years

0

20

40

60

80

100

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

98 98 98 99 98 99 97

100 99 100 99 100 99 99Somaliland Northeast Zone

Source for all of the above charts: MICS 2006

Source: MICS 2011

365 33

0 20 40 80 100

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

60

INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

SOMALIA

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

n - Division of Policy and Strategy UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York, 10017

Website: www.childinfo.org Email: childinfo@unicef.org

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

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0

20

40

60

80

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Centra

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United

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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

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

Sources: DHS, MICS, National Social Protection Monitoring Survey and SHHS, 1997-2012

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.