Female Genital Mutilation in Africa- Trends and patterns in the African context

The objective of the paper is to look at the trends and patterns in Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in some African countries for which data (Demographic and Health Survey data) are available on FGM/C status. Several rounds of data are available for the same country. Hence it is possible to study how knowledge, prevalence and belief with respect to FGM/C have changed over time given that there have been several interventions to discourage FGM/C in these countries.

The analysis will include descriptive statistics and logit models to understand the trends and patterns in FGM/C for each of the 11 countries. The dependent variables in the logit models are the following: 1. Heard about FGM/C (heard =1; not heard =0); 2. Have been circumcised (yes=1; no=0); 3. Believe that circumcision is mandated by religion (yes=1; no=0); 4. Circumcision should be discontinued (yes=1; no=0). The logit models will attempt to study the correlates of each of the dependent variables. The paper aims to fill the lacuna in terms of information available on where these countries stand after several years of persistent policy implementation to discourage FGM/C.