Lejore Sibamo Ephrem, Bitew Workie Shimelash
School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, South Ethiopia.
Int J Womens Health. 2022 Aug 10;14:1073-1081. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S366961. eCollection 2022.
Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is an act that violates the rights of girls and women and causes serious medical complications. Approximately 200 million women have undergone circumcision in 31 countries. Ethiopia, in particular, has the largest number of women who undergone FGM/C. Unfortunately, there has been minimal research into the reasons for this high prevalence in the country. Hence, this study has been conducted to explore behavioral barriers to stopping FGM/C in Southern Ethiopia.
An exploratory qualitative study was employed from October to November 2021 in two purposively selected zones of Southern Ethiopia. A purposive sampling technique was used to select respondents from the two zones. A total of fourteen study participants were selected and interviewed in-depth to obtain responses from various perspectives. A thematic content analysis was conducted to analyze the data collected from the field.
The study revealed that FGM/C is widely practiced in the study area. Respondents were found to have poor awareness and positive attitude towards continuation of FGM/C. This is possibly due to the social and cultural acceptability of the practice and influences from peers, families, future marriage partners and the community. The study shows that women are more likely to be circumcised because they want to be respected by their community, to be considered eligible for marriage and to avoid stigma and discrimination.
The continued practice of FGM/C was in considerable state to require the development of intervention strategies in order to eliminate it by 2030. The study's findings recommend stronger legal actions against those who perform FGM/C, alongside behavior change communication interventions, to improve awareness of its risks and encourage the community to stop FGM/C.
女性生殖器切割是一种侵犯女孩和妇女权利并导致严重医疗并发症的行为。在31个国家，约有2亿女性接受了割礼。特别是埃塞俄比亚，接受女性生殖器切割的女性数量最多。不幸的是，对于该国这一高流行率的原因，研究极少。因此，开展了本研究以探索埃塞俄比亚南部停止女性生殖器切割的行为障碍。
2021年10月至11月，在埃塞俄比亚南部两个经目的抽样选定的地区开展了一项探索性定性研究。采用目的抽样技术从这两个地区选取受访者。总共选取了14名研究参与者并进行了深入访谈，以从不同角度获取回答。对从实地收集的数据进行了主题内容分析。
研究表明，女性生殖器切割在研究地区广泛存在。发现受访者对继续进行女性生殖器切割的认识不足且持积极态度。这可能是由于该做法在社会和文化上被接受，以及来自同龄人、家庭、未来婚姻伴侣和社区的影响。研究表明，女性更有可能接受割礼，因为她们希望得到社区尊重、被认为有结婚资格并避免耻辱和歧视。
女性生殖器切割的持续存在状况严重，需要制定干预策略以便在2030年前消除这一行为。该研究结果建议，对实施女性生殖器切割者采取更有力的法律行动，同时开展行为改变宣传干预，以提高对其风险的认识并鼓励社区停止女性生殖器切割。
