Peer-reviewed article
What interventions are effective to prevent or respond to female genital mutilation? A review of existing evidence from 2008–2020
Dennis Juma Matanda, Nina Van Eekert, Melanie Croce-Galis, Jill Gay, Maria Johanna Middelburg et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This review looked at research from 2008 to 2020 on programmes that aim to prevent or respond to female genital mutilation (FGM). It used a Rapid Evidence Assessment and rated the quality and strength of the studies. Of 7,698 records found, 115 studies met the criteria, and 106 of high or moderate quality were analysed. The authors conclude that interventions work differently at system, service, community and individual levels, and that more research is needed at every level.
Key points
- Of 7,698 records retrieved, 115 studies met the inclusion criteria, and 106 were of high or moderate quality and were included in the final analysis.
- At the system level, legislation-related interventions must be multifaceted to be effective.
- At the service level, more research is needed on how the health system can effectively prevent and respond to FGM.
- Community-level interventions are effective for changing attitudes towards FGM, but they need to go beyond attitudes to create behaviour change.
- At the individual level, formal education is effective in reducing FGM prevalence among girls, but the returns may take many years to be realised.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available. It does not name the countries covered, give effect sizes, or say which individual interventions were studied. It also describes a rapid review rather than a full systematic review, so it may have missed some studies.
Abstract
As the final decade of acceleration towards zero new cases of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM, SDG Target 5.3) by 2030 has begun, increasing the rigour, relevance, and utility of research for programming, policy development and resource allocation is critical. This study aimed to synthesize and assess the quality and strength of existing evidence on interventions designed to prevent or respond to FGM between 2008 and 2020.The study drew on a Rapid Evidence Assessment of the available literature on FGM interventions. The quality of studies was assessed using the ‘How to Note: Assessing the Strength of Evidence’ guidelines published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and strength of evidence using a modified Gray scale developed by the What Works Association. Of the 7698 records retrieved, 115 studies met the inclusion criteria. Of the 115 studies, 106 were of high and moderate quality and were included in the final analysis. This review shows that at the system level, legislation-related interventions must be multifaceted to be effective. Whilst all levels would benefit from more research, for the service level especially more research is needed into how the health system can effectively prevent and respond to FGM. Community-level interventions are effective for changing attitudes towards FGM, but more must be done to innovate with these interventions so that they move beyond affecting attitudes alone to creating behaviour change. At the individual level, formal education is effective in reducing FGM prevalence among girls. However, the returns of formal education in ending FGM may take many years to be realized. Interventions targeting intermediate outcomes, such as improvement in knowledge and change in attitudes and beliefs towards FGM, are equally needed at the individual level.