Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: despite concerted efforts to curb female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), it is still a contributor to the high morbidity and mortality rates among African women and girls.
Objectives: to describe the publication output on FGM/C in Africa over the past 10 years (1 January 2007 to 31 December 2016), identifying trends and gaps to guide future research into FGM/C.
Methods: a scoping review guided by the Arksey and O’Malley 's (2005) five-stage framework was conducted. We used the keyword ‘Africa’ in combination with the terms ‘female genital mutilation’, ‘female genital cutting’ and ‘female circumcision’, to search key electronic databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Reference lists of tracked articles were used to track other relevant articles. Only peer-reviewed research publications on FGM/C in African countries were included, and we entered the data into an extraction sheet so as to ensure effective data management. A PRISMA flow diagram (Figure 1) typified how the search was conducted.
Results: we included 28 articles in the review. We found evidence that FGM/C is still widely being practiced in Africa, despite interventions such as anti-FGM/C laws and campaigns. Many communities indicated support for the continuation of FGM/C and some have medicalized it. This study also revealed that there might have been an increase in early-age (0 to 10 years) FGM/C in some communities, and that the studies done in the past decade were mostly quantitative studies focused on the prevalence, attitude, perpetrators and health consequences of FGM/C.
Conclusions: there is a need for more research into the experiences of the younger generations affected by FGM/C. Their experiences and suggestions could be the missing link. Research into early-age FGM/C is also recommended.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: results of this scoping review are essential, as the review will help us to understand the trends of the practice (FGM/C) so that evidence-based policies and programmes can be effectively designed, implemented and monitored. This will help to accelerate the progress of the fight against this practice, thereby protecting the growing number of girls at risk of FGM/C.
Objectives: to describe the publication output on FGM/C in Africa over the past 10 years (1 January 2007 to 31 December 2016), identifying trends and gaps to guide future research into FGM/C.
Methods: a scoping review guided by the Arksey and O’Malley 's (2005) five-stage framework was conducted. We used the keyword ‘Africa’ in combination with the terms ‘female genital mutilation’, ‘female genital cutting’ and ‘female circumcision’, to search key electronic databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Reference lists of tracked articles were used to track other relevant articles. Only peer-reviewed research publications on FGM/C in African countries were included, and we entered the data into an extraction sheet so as to ensure effective data management. A PRISMA flow diagram (Figure 1) typified how the search was conducted.
Results: we included 28 articles in the review. We found evidence that FGM/C is still widely being practiced in Africa, despite interventions such as anti-FGM/C laws and campaigns. Many communities indicated support for the continuation of FGM/C and some have medicalized it. This study also revealed that there might have been an increase in early-age (0 to 10 years) FGM/C in some communities, and that the studies done in the past decade were mostly quantitative studies focused on the prevalence, attitude, perpetrators and health consequences of FGM/C.
Conclusions: there is a need for more research into the experiences of the younger generations affected by FGM/C. Their experiences and suggestions could be the missing link. Research into early-age FGM/C is also recommended.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: results of this scoping review are essential, as the review will help us to understand the trends of the practice (FGM/C) so that evidence-based policies and programmes can be effectively designed, implemented and monitored. This will help to accelerate the progress of the fight against this practice, thereby protecting the growing number of girls at risk of FGM/C.
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