Predictors of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting Among Daughters of Women in Guinea, West Africa

Abstract

Background and Objective: In some African countries like Guinea, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) has been considered as an essential social norm in ensuring girls’ and women’s virginity by reducing their sexual desires. This study aimed at examining the factors associated with FGM/C among daughters of women aged 15-49 in Guinea. Methods: Using the 2018 Guinea Demographic and Health Survey, we analyzed data on 10,721 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who had at least one daughter. A two-level multi-level logistic regression analysis was fitted and the random and fixed effects together with their corresponding 95% credible intervals (95% CrIs) were presented. Results: Women of all age categories had higher odds of having circumcised daughters with the substantially highest odds among those aged 35-39 (aOR=26.10, CrI=11.22-53.94) compared to those aged 15-19. “FGM/C was higher among daughters of circumcised mothers (aOR=5.50, CrI=3.11-9.72), compared to those who were not circumcise. Compared to Muslims, women who were either animists or had no religion were more likely to circumcise their daughters (aOR=2.13, CrI=1.12-4.05). Conversely, women with secondary/higher education, whose partners had secondary/higher education, Christians, women of richest wealth index and those who lived in the Faranah and N’zerekore regions were less likely to circumcise their daughters. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: The current study revealed that individual and contextual factors are associated with FGM/C among daughters of women aged 15-49 in Guinea. The findings imply that eliminating FGM/C in Guinea requires multifaceted interventions such as advocacy and educational strategies like focus group discussions, peer teaching, mentor-mentee programs in regions noted with the FGM/C practice. This will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 which focuses on eliminating all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation by 2030. Copyright © 2021 Ahinkorah. et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.

Circumcising daughters in Nigeria: To what extent does education influence mothers’ FGM/C continuation attitudes?

“…We controlled for the influence of other factors-mother's age, religion, marital status, whether FGM/C is an important religious practice, place of residence and household wealth. Our findings of reducing odds of daughter's circumcision with increasing mother's age contradicts what has been reported in existing literature [37,41]. In the study's sample, almost half of women aged less than 25 years (45%) had circumcised their daughters and this was high relative to the other age categories.…”

Determinants of Female Genital Mutilation Among Under Five-Year Children in Motta Town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022: Unmatched Case Control Study

“…In this study, as compared to the household with the richest wealth quintile, the probabilities of circumcision were increased by 3.65 in the household with the poorest wealth quintile. This finding is in line with studies done in Ethiopia, 18 Sierra Leone 20,30 and Guinea. 20,30 Mothers in the poorest wealth quintile might experience this because they are more likely than mothers in the greatest wealth quintile to get knowledge regarding the effects of female genital mutilation in an interrupted manner.…”

“…This finding is in line with studies done in Ethiopia, 18 Sierra Leone 20,30 and Guinea. 20,30 Mothers in the poorest wealth quintile might experience this because they are more likely than mothers in the greatest wealth quintile to get knowledge regarding the effects of female genital mutilation in an interrupted manner. In comparison to mothers in the highest wealth quintile, those mothers also lack the ability to make decisions on the cessation of the practice.…”

“…This result is consistent with research done in Ethiopia 18 and Guinea. 20 This is due to a higher preference of circumcised mothers to support the continuation of the practice than uncircumcised mothers. 21,22 Another reason for this is the belief of circumcised mothers that female genital mutilation is required by religion more often than uncircumcised mothers.…”

Effects of antenatal care visits and health facility delivery on women's choice to circumcise their daughters in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from demographic and health surveys

“…These findings are in line with the findings of previous studies that identified improved socio-economic status as protective against the circumcision of girls, while demographic factors such as increasing age, being married and a woman's experience of FGM increase the likelihood of circumcision of daughters. 26 , 28 , 57 These findings imply that eliminating FGM in SSA goes beyond encouraging ANC attendance and health facility delivery to improving the socio-economic status of women and educating married, circumcised and older women about the negative effects of this cultural practice.…”