Centre for Australian Public and Population Health Research, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Level 8, Room 225, 235 Jones St, PO Box 123, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.
Reprod Health. 2021 Feb 28;18(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s12978-021-01114-x.
FGM/C is a cultural practice associated with adverse health outcomes that involves the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia or injury to the genitalia. FGM/C is a form of violence against women and girls. There are no laws that specifically outlaw FGM/C in Sri Lanka and no national prevalence data. There is a lack of evidence about this practice to inform prevention efforts required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 5.3.2, which focuses on the elimination of all harmful practices, including FGM/C.
We undertook a qualitative interpretative study to explore the knowledge and perceptions of community members, religious leaders and professionals from the health, legal and community work sectors in five districts across Sri Lanka. We aimed to identify strategies to end this practice.
Two-hundred-and twenty-one people participated in focus group discussions and key informant interviews. A template analysis identified five top-level themes: Providers, procedures and associated rituals; demand and decision-making; the role of religion; perceived benefits and adverse outcomes; ways forward for prevention.
This study delivered detailed knowledge of FGM/C related beliefs, perceptions and practitioners and provided opportunities to develop an integrated programming strategy that incorporates interventions across three levels of prevention.
切割女性生殖器官/残割女性生殖器是一种与不良健康后果相关的文化习俗，涉及部分或全部切除女性外生殖器或对生殖器造成伤害。切割女性生殖器官/残割女性生殖器是对妇女和女童的一种暴力形式。斯里兰卡没有专门禁止切割女性生殖器官/残割女性生殖器的法律，也没有全国流行数据。由于缺乏这方面的实践证据，无法为实现可持续发展目标 5.3.2 中的消除所有有害习俗（包括切割女性生殖器官/残割女性生殖器）所需的预防工作提供信息。
我们开展了一项定性解释性研究，以探讨斯里兰卡五个地区的社区成员、宗教领袖以及卫生、法律和社区工作部门专业人员的知识和看法。我们旨在确定结束这种做法的策略。
221 人参加了焦点小组讨论和重点人物访谈。模板分析确定了五个顶级主题：提供者、程序和相关仪式；需求和决策；宗教的作用；感知的益处和不良后果；预防的前进道路。
本研究详细了解了与切割女性生殖器官/残割女性生殖器相关的信仰、看法和从业者，并提供了机会来制定一项综合方案规划战略，将预防的三个层面的干预措施结合起来。
