Peer-reviewed article
The practice of female genital mutilation across the world: Data availability and approaches to measurement
Claudia Cappa, Luk Van Baelen, Els Leye ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper reviews data availability and measurement methods for female genital mutilation (FGM) globally. It examines prevalence estimates in countries where FGM originates and where women and girls who have undergone FGM have migrated. The review highlights the strengths and limitations of existing data collection approaches across different country contexts.
Key points
- Systematic documentation of FGM extent is a recent undertaking despite centuries of practice
- Two main categories of countries are distinguished: FGM countries of origin with representative prevalence data, and migration countries lacking such data
- Some countries have only small autochthonous populations practising FGM
- Data availability and measurement methods vary significantly across global contexts
Limitations
This is a review of data and methods rather than an empirical study, so it cannot provide new prevalence estimates or test interventions. It documents existing knowledge gaps rather than resolving them.
Abstract
While Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been in existence for centuries, the rigorous and systematic documentation of the extent of the practice is a recent undertaking. This paper discusses data availability related to the practice of FGM and reviews the methods used to generate prevalence estimates. The aim is to illustrate strengths and limitations of the available data. The review is organised around two main categories of countries: FGM countries of origin, where representative prevalence data exist, and countries of migration for women and girls who have undergone FGM, for which representative prevalence data are lacking. This second category also includes countries across the world where FGM is only found among small autochthonous populations.