CIRCUMCISED TO PAIN: COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VULNERABILITY AMONG WOMEN OF KENYA AND NIGERIA

Female circumcision is a phenomenon specific to Africa continent.There is a discussion about the practices of circumcision where it is seen as the perpetuation of social and cultural values on one hand whereas, on the other hand, there are views that the individual choice and rights as an element to be factored in within the larger debate of health risk of women. The primary reason for selecting the two countries for analysis is that both are low economy country, yet the prevalence of circumcision has a telling difference even with its similar historical origination.In comparing the two countries with large scale survey (DHS), the prevalence of circumcision is much more in Nigeria than Kenya and the former lacks behind when it comes to positive perception.In carrying out the analysis, age of women, religion, ethnicity, and education are some of the important predictors affecting the perception on circumcision. The likelihood for the circumcised women wanting the practice to continues remains high for the both countries with circumcised women in Kenya 11 times more likely than the uncircumcised and in Nigeria, it is 21 times more likely than the uncircumcised women.