School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, P,O,Box,9086, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
BMC Public Health. 2013 Dec 5;13:1120. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1120.
Female Genital Cutting is a cultural practice among many ethnic groups in Ethiopia that has affected many girls over the past centuries. Although the trend is slowly decreasing in Ethiopia, the magnitude is still very high as the procedure has no known benefit but has many consequences. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and belief in the continuation of FGC among High School Girls in Hadiya Zone.
A cross-sectional quantitative survey was carried out among high school girls in Hadiya Zone from January to February 2011. A multi-staged cluster sampling method was used for sample selection. In total, 780 girls completed a self-administered questionnaire for this study. Statistical analysis was done using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression.
Of 780 high school girls, 82.2% were circumcised at a mean age of 11(±2.3) years. Half of the total participants responded that FGC was being practiced in their village. About 60% of the circumcisions were performed by traditional circumcisers while health professionals had performed 30% of them. A few of the circumcised girls (9.4%) supported their status as a circumcised girl, but only 5% believe in the continuation of FGC. The odds of being cut was higher among girls whose fathers and mothers had educational status under high school level (AOR = 2.04; 95% CI: 1.25, 3.09) and (AOR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1.01, 3.38) respectively when compared to those whose parents had attended high school and above. The odds of believing in the continuation of FGC was 2.33(95% CI: 1.01, 5.33) times higher among those who responded that FGC was practiced in their areas.
While there is an urgent need to stop the practice of FGC in Hadiya Zone, cultural beliefs related to the hygiene of female genitalia and other social factors contribute to sustaining the practice. Local organizations in collaboration with religious institutions and community leaders should work together to engage in a process of change within the entire community by arranging awareness creation programmes on the harmfulness of the practice especially in the rural areas of the zone.
女性割礼是埃塞俄比亚许多族群的一种文化习俗，在过去几个世纪里影响了许多女孩。尽管这种趋势在埃塞俄比亚正在缓慢减少，但由于该手术没有已知的好处，反而有许多后果，因此其规模仍然很大。本研究的目的是评估哈迪耶地区高中女生中女性割礼的流行率和继续进行女性割礼的信念。
2011 年 1 月至 2 月期间，对哈迪耶地区的高中女生进行了横断面定量调查。采用多阶段聚类抽样方法选择样本。共有 780 名女生完成了这项研究的自我管理问卷。使用双变量和多变量逻辑回归进行统计分析。
在 780 名高中女生中，82.2%的人在 11 岁（±2.3 岁）时接受了割礼。一半的参与者回答说，他们的村庄正在进行女性割礼。大约 60%的割礼是由传统的割礼师进行的，而卫生专业人员进行了 30%的割礼。少数割礼女孩（9.4%）支持自己的割礼身份，但只有 5%的人相信女性割礼的延续。当与那些父母受教育程度低于高中的女孩相比时，父母受教育程度高于高中的女孩接受割礼的几率更高（OR = 2.04；95%CI：1.25，3.09）和（OR = 1.84；95%CI：1.01，3.38）。当与那些回答自己的地区正在进行女性割礼的女孩相比时，那些相信女性割礼会继续进行的女孩的几率高 2.33 倍（95%CI：1.01，5.33）。
虽然迫切需要在哈迪耶地区停止女性割礼的做法，但与女性生殖器卫生相关的文化信仰和其他社会因素有助于维持这种做法。地方组织应与宗教机构和社区领导人合作，共同在整个社区开展变革进程，安排关于该做法的危害性的宣传方案，特别是在该地区的农村地区。
