An exploration of attitudes toward female genital cutting in Nigeria

Abstract

Female genital cutting (FGC) continues to be widespread particularly in sub-Saharan African countries. We use data from the 1999 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey to consider factors that influence attitudes toward this procedure held by Nigerian women aged 15–49. We test four models: model 1 explores whether attitudes are consistent with a view of FGC as a social convention associated with marriageability of women. Model 2 examines the impact of modernization factors such as education and urbanization. In model 3, the influence of media and community activities are considered. Model 4 includes all of the factors in the three previous models. We find strong support for considering FGC a social convention. Modernization has minimal impact on attitudes about FGC mainly through its influence on the social convention. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007Female genital cutting, Health, Modernization, Women,

Spatial Distribution of Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria

“…The results for religion did not support the view that the practice may be more prevalent in certain religions (such as Islam). These findings support previous findings in Nigeria, 3 which considered FGM as a social convention and reconfirm that modernization (education or religion) has minimal impact on the likelihood of FGM in Nigeria. Other factors such as influence on social conventions may play a major role in the likelihood of women having FGM.…”

“…4 However, despite the large amount of data, much uncertainty remains about the true nature and causality of these associations because of potential of confounding by other factors and lack of robust religious or cultural evidence on plausible mechanisms by which FGM operates. Specifically, studies 3 have shown that FGM habits in the general population are the result of a complex interaction of different factors (e.g., social, behavioral, psychological, and environmental). The prevalence rate of FGM was higher in the southern states than in northern states, even though the level of education was relatively higher in southern areas.…”

“…In the analysis of survey data, the commonly adopted models are probit or logistic, and the standard measure of effect is the odds ratio (OR). 3,13 The NDHS data use cluster sampling to draw upon women respondents by multistage sampling. At the first stage, a stratified sample of enumeration areas (villages/communities) is taken; at the second stage, a sample of households within the selected communities is taken; and at the third stage, all women respondents (15-49 years of age) in the sample households are included.…”

“…Most of the literature deals with issues of the origin, types, and justifications for the practice but little is devoted to its patterns and spatial distribution. As per its origin, some researchers 3 have argued that FGM can be traced to Egypt. The practice of FGM has been justified mostly on social and cultural grounds.…”

“…4,10 It has been suggested that Nigeria has a strong social convention for supporting FGM. 3 We examine how this social convention varies across states and the role that individual factors play in influencing this convention.…”