Awareness and knowledge of female genital mutilation among women in a sub-urban community in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: An estimated 130 million reported cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) occur globally, and every year at least 3 million girls and young women are at risk of undergoing this practice. This study was carried out to assess awareness and knowledge of FGM in a sub-urban community, Edo State, to help raise awareness on FGC and help develop programs against the practice.

Materials and Method: A community based descriptive cross sectional study design was utilized for this study, involving researcher administration of semi-structured questionnaires to 325 consenting women of reproductive age in Okada Community, Edo State. Data collected weresorted for completeness coded, entered and analysed using SPSS version 21.0 statistical software with statistical significance set at p˂0.05 and 95% confidence interval.

Results: The mean age of respondents studied was 22.78 ± 9.30 years.Three hundred and fourteen (96.6%) women studied were aware of FGM while 11(3.4%) were not, with school 155(49.4%) and family 124 (39.4%) being their predominant sources of information. One hundred and eighty six (56.2%) of the respondents had good knowledge of FGM while 128(40.8%) had poor knowledge. Employment status (OR=0.453; 95%CI=0.225-0.911; p=0.001) was the significant predictor identified that influenced knowledge of FGM among women studied.

Conclusion: This study identified disparity between level of awareness and knowledge of FGM with employment status identified as a significant predictor for knowledge of FGM. There is need for a well-coordinated approach involving all relevant stakeholders to raise needed awareness with adequate knowledge to make informed decision against the practice of FGM.

Keywords: Awareness, Female Genital Mutilation, Knowledge, Reproductive age, Sub-urban community, Women