Survey of Women's Opinions on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Southeast Nigeria: Study of Patients Attending Antenatal Clinic

BACKGROUND: Female genital mutilation is known to exist especially in many third world countries including Nigeria with many women being victims of this harmful practice and its complications. The practice is rife in Southeast Nigeria and efforts have been made to discourage it. OBJECTIVE: To determine women's views on aspects of female genital mutilation and the prevalence among the study population. METHOD: Women attending the antenatal clinics of two university teaching hospitals in Southeast Nigeria were interviewed by means of structured pre-tested interviewer- administered questionnaires. The data obtained were analysed using SPSS version 10.0 and the results expressed in descriptive statistics as percentages. RESULTS: The prevalence of FGM was 42.1%. However, only 14.3% of the respondents circumcised their own daughters or showed willingness to circumcise their daughters indicating considerable reduction in uptake of the practice. A larger proportion (63.7%) would support legislation against FGM. CONCLUSION: There is a high opinion against the practice of FGM in Southeast Nigeria, with the majority of the women showing support for legislation against it.