Department of Geography, University of Namur, 5000, Namur, Belgium.
ILEE, University of Namur, 5000, Namur, Belgium.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Jul 12;24(1):1866. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19069-6.
Due to its economic burden and change of focus, there is no gainsaying of the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the progress of several female genital mutilation (FGM) interventions across the various countries. However, the magnitude of the potential changes in likelihood and prevalence should be more accurately explored and quantified using a statistically robust comparative study. In this study, we examined the differences in the likelihood and prevalence of FGM among 15-49 years old women before and after the pandemic in Nigeria.
We used advanced Bayesian hierarchical models to analyse post-COVID-19 datasets provided by the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS 2021) and pre-COVID-19 data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS 2018).
Results indicated that although there was an overall decline in FGM prevalence nationally, heterogeneities exist at state level and at individual-/community-level characteristics. There was a 6.9% increase in prevalence among women who would like FGM to continue within the community. FGM prevalence increased by 18.9% in Nasarawa, while in Kaduna there was nearly 40% decrease.
Results show that FGM is still a social norm issue in Nigeria and that it may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The methods, data and outputs from this study would serve to provide accurate statistical evidence required by policymakers for complete eradication of FGM.
由于 COVID-19 大流行带来的经济负担和关注重点的转变，它无疑对各国女性生殖器切割（FGM）干预措施的进展产生了潜在影响。然而，使用统计稳健的比较研究更准确地探索和量化潜在变化的可能性和流行率更为重要。在这项研究中，我们检查了尼日利亚在 COVID-19 大流行前后，15-49 岁女性中 FGM 的可能性和流行率的差异。
我们使用先进的贝叶斯层次模型来分析由多指标类集调查（MICS 2021）提供的 COVID-19 后数据集和由人口与健康调查（DHS 2018）提供的 COVID-19 前数据。
结果表明，尽管全国 FGM 的流行率总体上有所下降，但在州一级和个人/社区一级的特征方面存在差异。在希望社区内继续进行 FGM 的女性中，流行率增加了 6.9%。在纳萨拉瓦州，FGM 的流行率增加了 18.9%，而在卡杜纳州，流行率下降了近 40%。
结果表明，FGM 在尼日利亚仍然是一个社会规范问题，并且 COVID-19 大流行可能使其恶化。这项研究的方法、数据和结果将为政策制定者提供完全消除 FGM 所需的准确统计证据。
