Editing Female genital mutilation (section)

== Distribution ==
According to the [[UNICEF]], international FGM rates have risen significantly in recent years, rising from an estimated 200 million in 2016 to 230 million in 2024, with progress towards its abandonment stalling or reversing in many effected countries.<ref name=":0" />

===Household surveys===
[[File:2020 Global Response report FGM world map.svg|thumb|400px|Map showing the % of women and girls aged 15–49 years (unless otherwise stated) who have undergone FGM/C according to the March 2020 Global Response report.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.endfgm.eu/editor/files/2020/04/FGM_Global_-_ONLINE_PDF_VERSION_-_07.pdf |title=Female genital mutilation/cutting: a call for a global response |publisher=End FGM European Network, U.S. End FGM/C Network and Equality Now |date=March 2020 |accessdate=6 May 2020}}</ref> Grey countries' data are not covered.]]
Aid agencies define the prevalence of FGM as the percentage of the 15–49 age group that has experienced it.{{sfn|Yoder|Wang|Johansen|2013|loc=193}} These figures are based on nationally representative household surveys known as [[Demographic and Health Surveys]] (DHS), developed by [[ICF International|Macro International]] and funded mainly by the [[United States Agency for International Development]] (USAID); and [[Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys]] (MICS) conducted with financial and technical help from UNICEF.{{sfn|Yoder|Wang|Johansen|2013|loc=190}} These surveys have been carried out in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere roughly every five years since 1984 and 1995 respectively.<ref name=DHS>[http://www.dhsprogram.com/What-We-Do/Survey-Types/DHS.cfm "DHS overview"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016202457/http://www.dhsprogram.com/What-We-Do/Survey-Types/DHS.cfm |date=16 October 2014 }}, Demographic and Health Surveys; [http://www.childinfo.org/mics5_questionnaire.html "Questionnaires and Indicator List"], Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, UNICEF.</ref> The first to ask about FGM was the 1989–1990 DHS in northern Sudan. The first publication to estimate FGM prevalence based on DHS data (in seven countries) was written by Dara Carr of Macro International in 1997.{{sfn|Yoder|Wang|Johansen|2013}}

===Type of FGM===
Questions the women are asked during the surveys include: "Was the genital area just nicked/cut without removing any flesh? Was any flesh (or something) removed from the genital area? Was your genital area sewn?"<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 134–135.</ref> Most women report "cut, some flesh removed" (Types I and II).<ref name=Yoder2013p189TypeI>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 47, table 5.2; {{harvnb|Yoder|Wang|Johansen|2013|loc=189}}.</ref>

Type I is the most common form in Egypt,{{sfn|Rasheed|Abd-Ellah|Yousef|2011}} and in the southern parts of Nigeria.{{sfn|Okeke|Anyaehie|Ezenyeaku|2012|loc=70–73}} Type III (infibulation) is concentrated in northeastern Africa, particularly Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan.{{sfn|Yoder|Khan|2008|loc=13–14}} In surveys in 2002–2006, 30 percent of cut girls in Djibouti, 38 percent in Eritrea, and 63 percent in Somalia had experienced Type III.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 47. For the years and country profiles: [[#UNICEFDjibouti|Djibouti]], UNICEF, December 2013; [[#UNICEFEritrea|Eritrea]], UNICEF, July 2013; [[#UNICEFSomalia|Somalia]], UNICEF, December 2013.</ref> There is also a high prevalence of infibulation among girls in Niger and Senegal,<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 114.</ref> and in 2013 it was estimated that in Nigeria three percent of the 0–14 age group had been infibulated.<ref>[[#UNICEFNigeria|Nigeria]], UNICEF, July 2014.</ref> The type of procedure is often linked to ethnicity. In Eritrea, for example, a survey in 2002 found that all [[Hedareb people|Hedareb]] girls had been infibulated, compared with two percent of the [[Tigrinya people|Tigrinya]], most of whom fell into the "cut, no flesh removed" category.<ref name=UNICEF2013p48/>

===Prevalence===
{{Further|Prevalence of female genital mutilation}}
{{multiple image
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 | image1 = FGM prevalence 15–49 (2016).jpg
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 | caption1 = Percentage of 15–49 group who have undergone FGM in 29 countries for which figures were available in 2016<ref name=UNICEF2016/>
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 | caption2 = Percentage of 0–14 group who have undergone FGM in 21 countries for which figures were available in 2016<ref name=UNICEF2016/>
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FGM is mostly found in what [[Gerry Mackie]] called an "intriguingly contiguous" zone in Africa—east to west from Somalia to Senegal, and north to south from Egypt to Tanzania.<ref>[[#MackieLeJeune2008|Mackie and LeJeune (UNICEF) 2008]], 5.</ref> Nationally representative figures are available for 27 countries in Africa, as well as Indonesia, Iraqi Kurdistan and Yemen. Over 200 million women and girls are thought to be living with FGM in those 30 countries.<ref name=UNICEF2023/><ref name=UNICEF2016/><ref name=UNICEFIndonesia2016>[[#UNICEFIndonesia2016|UNICEF Indonesia]], February 2016.</ref>

The highest concentrations among the 15–49 age group are in Somalia (98 percent), Guinea (97 percent), Djibouti (93 percent), Egypt (91 percent), and Sierra Leone (90 percent).<ref name=UNICEF2014pp89-90>[[#UNICEF2014|UNICEF 2014]], 89–90.</ref> As of 2013, 27.2 million women had undergone FGM in Egypt, 23.8 million in Ethiopia, and 19.9 million in Nigeria.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 2.</ref> There is a high concentration in Indonesia, where according to UNICEF Type I (clitoridectomy) and Type IV (symbolic nicking) are practised; the [[Ministry of Health (Indonesia)|Indonesian Ministry of Health]] and [[Indonesian Ulema Council]] both say the clitoris should not be cut. The prevalence rate for the 0–11 group in Indonesia is 49 percent (13.4 million).<ref name=UNICEFIndonesia2016/>{{rp|2}} Smaller studies or anecdotal reports suggest that various types of FGM are also practised in various circumstances in [[Colombia]], [[Jordan]], [[Oman]], [[Palestine]],<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/06/16/qa-female-genital-mutilation#:~:text=FGM%20is%20also%20believed%20to,by%20Falasha%20Jews%20in%20Ethiopia.|title=Q&A on what Female Genital Mutilation is|date=16 June 2010 |access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref> [[Saudi Arabia]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Milaat |first1=Waleed Abdullah |last2=Ibrahim |first2=Nahla Khamis |last3=Albar |first3=Hussain Mohammed |date=2018-03-01 |title=Reproductive health profile and circumcision of females in the Hali semi-urban region, Saudi Arabia: A community-based cross-sectional survey |journal=Annals of Saudi Medicine |language=en |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=81–89 |doi=10.5144/0256-4947.2018.81 |issn=0256-4947 |pmc=6074365 |pmid=29620540}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rouzi |first1=Abdulrahim A |last2=Berg |first2=Rigmor C |last3=Alamoudi |first3=Rana |last4=Alzaban |first4=Faten |last5=Sehlo |first5=Mohammad |date=2019-06-01 |title=Survey on female genital mutilation/cutting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |journal=BMJ Open |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=e024684 |doi=10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024684 |issn=2044-6055 |pmc=6549616 |pmid=31154295}}</ref> [[Malaysia]],<ref name="UNICEF 2013, 23">[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 23.</ref> the [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref name=UNICEF2016/> [[India]],<ref>{{cite web|title='I was crying with unbearable pain': study reveals extent of FGM in India |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/06/study-reveals-fgm-india-female-genital-mutilation |last=Cantera |first=Angel L Martínez |date=6 March 2018 |work=The Guardian |access-date=9 November 2018}}</ref> and among [[Kurds|Kurdish]] communities in [[Iran]]<ref name="auto1"/> but there are no representative data on the prevalence in these countries.<ref name=UNICEF2016/> {{As of|2023}}, UNICEF reported that "The highest levels of support for FGM can be found in Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Gambia, Somalia, and Egypt, where more than half of the female population thinks the practice should continue".<ref name=UNICEF2023/>

Prevalence figures for the 15–19 age group and younger show a downward trend.{{efn|UNICEF 2013: "The percentage of girls and women of reproductive age (15 to 49) who have experienced any form of FGM/C is the first indicator used to show how widespread the practice is in a particular country&nbsp;... A second indicator of national prevalence measures the extent of cutting among daughters aged 0 to 14, as reported by their mothers. Prevalence data for girls reflect their current&nbsp;– not final&nbsp;– FGM/C status, since many of them may not have reached the customary age for cutting at the time of the survey. They are reported as being uncut but are still at risk of undergoing the procedure. Statistics for girls under age 15 therefore need to be interpreted with a high degree of caution&nbsp;..."<ref name="UNICEF 2013, 23"/>
{{pb}} An additional complication in judging prevalence among girls is that, in countries running campaigns against FGM, women might not report that their daughters have been cut.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 25, 100; {{harvnb|Yoder|Wang|Johansen|2013|loc=196}}.</ref>}} For example, Burkina Faso fell from 89 percent (1980) to 58 percent (2010); Egypt from 97 percent (1985) to 70 percent (2015); and Kenya from 41 percent (1984) to 11 percent (2014).<ref>[[#UNICEF2016|UNICEF 2016]], 1.</ref> Beginning in 2010, household surveys asked women about the FGM status of all their living daughters.<ref>{{harvnb|Yoder|Wang|Johansen|2013|loc=194}}; [[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 25.</ref> The highest concentrations among girls aged 0–14 were in Gambia (56 percent), Mauritania (54 percent), Indonesia (49 percent for 0–11) and Guinea (46 percent).<ref name=UNICEF2016/> The figures suggest that a girl was one third less likely in 2014 to undergo FGM than she was 30 years ago.<ref>[[#UNICEF2014|UNICEF 2014]], 2.</ref> According to a 2018 study published in ''BMJ Global Health'', the prevalence within the 0–14 year old group fell in East Africa from 71.4 percent in 1995 to 8 percent in 2016; in North Africa from 57.7 percent in 1990 to 14.1 percent in 2015; and in West Africa from 73.6 percent in 1996 to 25.4 percent in 2017.<ref>{{harvnb|Kandala|Ezejimofor|Uthman|Komba|2018}}; {{cite news |last1=Ratcliffe |first1=Rebecca |title=FGM rates in east Africa drop from 71% to 8% in 20 years, study shows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/nov/07/fgm-rates-in-east-africa-drop-20-years-study-shows |work=The Guardian |date=7 November 2018 |access-date=7 November 2018 |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815062044/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/nov/07/fgm-rates-in-east-africa-drop-20-years-study-shows |url-status=live }}</ref> If the current rate of decline continues, the number of girls cut will nevertheless continue to rise because of population growth, according to UNICEF in 2014; they estimate that the figure will increase from 3.6 million a year in 2013 to 4.1 million in 2050.{{efn|UNICEF 2014: "If there is no reduction in the practice between now and 2050, the number of girls cut each year will grow from 3.6 million in 2013 to 6.6 million in 2050. But if the rate of progress achieved over the last 30 years is maintained, the number of girls affected annually will go from 3.6 million today to 4.1 million in 2050.{{pb}}"In either scenario, the total number of girls and women cut will continue to increase due to population growth. If nothing is done, the number of girls and women affected will grow from 133 million today to 325 million in 2050. However, if the progress made so far is sustained, the number will grow from 133 million to 196 million in 2050, and almost 130 million girls will be spared this grave assault to their human rights."<ref>[[#UNICEF2014|UNICEF 2014]], 3.</ref>}}

===Rural areas, wealth, education===
Surveys have found FGM to be more common in rural areas, less common in most countries among girls from the wealthiest homes, and (except in Sudan and Somalia) less common in girls whose mothers had access to primary or secondary/higher education. In Somalia and Sudan the situation was reversed: in Somalia, the mothers' access to secondary/higher education was accompanied by a rise in prevalence of FGM in their daughters, and in Sudan, access to any education was accompanied by a rise.<ref>For rural areas, [[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 28; for wealth, 40; for education, 41.</ref>

===Age, ethnicity===
FGM is not invariably a [[rite of passage]] between childhood and adulthood but is often performed on much younger children.{{sfn|Mackie|2000|loc=275}} Girls are most commonly cut shortly after birth to age 15. In half the countries for which national figures were available in 2000–2010, most girls had been cut by age five.<ref name=UNICEF2013p50>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 50.</ref> Over 80 percent (of those cut) are cut before the age of five in Nigeria, Mali, Eritrea, Ghana and Mauritania.<ref name=UNICEF2013pp47,183>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 47, 183.</ref> The 1997 Demographic and Health Survey in Yemen found that 76 percent of girls had been cut within two weeks of birth.<ref>[http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/fgm_eng.pdf UNICEF 2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928122738/http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/fgm_eng.pdf |date=28 September 2018 }}, 6.</ref> The percentage is reversed in Somalia, Egypt, Chad, and the Central African Republic, where over 80 percent (of those cut) are cut between five and 14.<ref name=UNICEF2013pp47,183/> Just as the type of FGM is often linked to ethnicity, so is the mean age. In Kenya, for example, the [[Kisi people|Kisi]] cut around age 10 and the [[Kamba people|Kamba]] at 16.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 51.</ref>

A country's national prevalence often reflects a high sub-national prevalence among certain ethnicities, rather than a widespread practice.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 28–37.</ref> In Iraq, for example, FGM is found mostly among the [[Kurdish people|Kurds]] in [[Erbil]] (58 percent prevalence within age group 15–49, as of 2011), [[Sulaymaniyah]] (54 percent) and [[Kirkuk]] (20 percent), giving the country a national prevalence of eight percent.<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/media/files/FGCM_Lo_res.pdf UNICEF 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405083031/http://www.unicef.org/media/files/FGCM_Lo_res.pdf |date=5 April 2015 }}. For eight percent in Iraq, 27, box&nbsp;4.4, group&nbsp;5; for the regions in Iraq, 31, map&nbsp;4.6). Also see {{harvnb|Yasin|Al-Tawil|Shabila|Al-Hadithi|2013}}.</ref> The practice is sometimes an ethnic marker, but it may differ along national lines. For example, in the northeastern regions of Ethiopia and Kenya, which share a border with Somalia, the [[Somali people]] practise FGM at around the same rate as they do in Somalia.{{sfn|Yoder|Wang|Johansen|2013|loc=196, 198}} But in Guinea all [[Fula people|Fulani]] women responding to a survey in 2012 said they had experienced FGM,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141220043131/http://data.unicef.org/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_country_profiles/corecode/30/Countries/FGMC_GIN.pdf "Guinea"] (2012), UNICEF statistical profile, July 2014, 2/4.</ref> against 12 percent of the Fulani in Chad, while in Nigeria the Fulani are the only large ethnic group in the country not to practise it.<ref>Chad: [[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 35–36; Nigeria: {{harvnb|Okeke|Anyaehie|Ezenyeaku|2012|loc=70–73}}. FGM is practised in Nigeria by the Yoruba, Hausa, Ibo, Ijaw, and Kanuri people.</ref> In Sierra Leone, the predominantly Christian [[Sierra Leone Creole|Creole]] people are the only ethnicity not known to practice FGM or participate in [[Sande society|Bondo society]] rituals.<ref name="Bassir, Olumbe 1954">[Bassir, Olumbe (July 1954). "Marriage Rites among the Aku (Yoruba) of Freetown". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 24 (3): 251–256]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.28toomany.org/static/media/uploads/Country%20Images/PDF/sierra_leone_country_profile_v2_(october_2018).pdf|title=FMG in Sierra Leone|publisher=28TooMany, Registered Charity: No. 1150379|access-date=2021-12-22|archive-date=2021-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222125403/https://www.28toomany.org/static/media/uploads/Country%20Images/PDF/sierra_leone_country_profile_v2_(october_2018).pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/4b20f02bc.html |title=Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Sierra Leone: The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM); the government's position with respect to the practice; consequences of refusing to become an FGM practitioner in Bondo Society, specifically, if a daughter of a practitioner refuses to succeed her mother, 27 March 2009, SLE103015.E|publisher=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada}}</ref>