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: 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

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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 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

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Somali

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Djibou

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Guinea

Eritrea

Mali

United

Rep

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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