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

Authors

  • Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, MPhil School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • Edward Kwabena Ameyaw, MPhil School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • Abdul-Aziz Seidu, MPhil Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
  • Sanni Yaya, PhD, MSc School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21106/ijtmrph.319

Keywords:

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, Reproductive Health, Women’s Rights, Girls, Women’s Health; Forced Marriage, SDF, Sustainable Development Goals, FGM, Guinea, Demographic and Health Surveys, 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.

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How to Cite

Ahinkorah, B. O. ., Ameyaw, E. K. ., Seidu, A.-A. ., & Yaya, S. (2021). Predictors of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting Among Daughters of Women in Guinea, West Africa. International Journal of Translational Medical Research and Public Health, 5(1), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.21106/ijtmrph.319

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