University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Blegdamsvej 3, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Copenhagen University Hospital North Zealand, Dyrehavevej 29, 3400, Hillerød, Denmark.
Reprod Health. 2018 Apr 7;15(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s12978-018-0499-2.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice prevalent in 35 countries, mainly in Africa, as well as in some Middle Eastern countries and a few Asian countries. FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or complete resection of, or other injury to, external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. The practice of FGM has spread to Western countries due to migration. The European Institute for Gender Equality recommend that FGM be combatted by nationally coordinated efforts through implementation of national action plans, guidelines for professionals as well as comprehensive research in the field. FGM was outlawed in Denmark 2003, but no national actions plan has been implemented. Instead, the task of combatting FGM is currently under the responsibility of local governments in the form of the 98 municipalities. The aim of this study is to investigate the Danish municipalities' efforts to prevent FGM on the local level, and whether these initiatives are in accordance with international recommendations and standards.
All 98 Danish municipalities were invited to respond to a questionnaire regarding FGM in their respective municipalities. The inclusion process and questionnaire was designed after a pilot study, which included 29 municipalities. The questionnaire consisted of four overall areas of focus: "action plan", "registration", "information material" and "preventive initiatives". Demographic data were gathered from the 2017 census by Statistics Denmark. Risk countries were defined as countries with a tradition for FGM, identified from the 2016 UNICEF definition.
A total of 67 municipalities participated in the study. At the time of census, 1.8% of the Danish population was immigrants with origins in risk countries. A total of 10.4% of the responding municipalities indicated to have implemented a specific action plan against FGM. A total of 7,5% had implemented specific preventive initiatives against FGM. Registration of reported FGM cases were indicated to be performed in 73.1% of the responding municipalities; however, only 17.9% stated to perform registration of FGM specifically as such, and not as general child abuse.
Our study shows that the current situation of FGM registration and prevention being under local administrative responsibility in the 98 Danish municipalities has led to a severe lack of coordinated public initiative against FGM.
女性生殖器切割（FGM）是一种在 35 个国家普遍存在的有害做法，主要集中在非洲、一些中东国家和一些亚洲国家。FGM 包括因非医疗原因部分或全部切除或其他伤害女性外生殖器的所有程序。由于移民，这种做法已经传播到西方国家。欧洲性别平等研究所建议通过实施国家行动计划、专业人员准则以及该领域的综合研究，在国家协调努力的基础上打击女性生殖器切割。丹麦于 2003 年禁止女性生殖器切割，但尚未实施国家行动计划。相反，打击女性生殖器切割的任务目前由地方政府负责，形式是 98 个自治市。本研究旨在调查丹麦各自治市在地方一级预防女性生殖器切割的努力，以及这些举措是否符合国际建议和标准。
邀请所有 98 个丹麦自治市对其各自自治市的女性生殖器切割情况作出回应。纳入过程和问卷是在一项试点研究之后设计的，该研究包括 29 个自治市。问卷包括四个重点领域：“行动计划”、“登记”、“信息材料”和“预防举措”。人口统计数据由丹麦统计局根据 2017 年人口普查收集。风险国家被定义为有女性生殖器切割传统的国家，是根据 2016 年儿童基金会的定义确定的。
共有 67 个自治市参与了这项研究。在人口普查时，丹麦人口中有 1.8%是原籍国为风险国家的移民。共有 10.4%的回应自治市表示已实施了专门针对女性生殖器切割的具体行动计划。共有 7.5%的自治市实施了专门针对女性生殖器切割的预防举措。有 73.1%的回应自治市表示对报告的女性生殖器切割病例进行了登记；然而，只有 17.9%的自治市表示特别将女性生殖器切割登记为一般儿童虐待。
我们的研究表明，目前由 98 个丹麦自治市的地方行政部门负责女性生殖器切割的登记和预防工作，这导致了对女性生殖器切割的公共协调倡议严重缺乏。
