Estimates of first-generation women and girls with female genital mutilation in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland

Abstract

Background: Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the practice of partial or total removal of female genitalia for non-medical reasons. The procedure has no known health benefits but can cause serious immediate and long-term obstetric, gynaecological and sexual health problems. Health workers in Europe are often unaware of the consequences of FGM and lack the knowledge to treat women adequately.

Objective: Our goal was to estimate the number of first-generation girls and women in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland who have undergone FGM. Before migration from FGM-practicing countries began, FGM was an unknown phenomenon in Europe.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data from the 2011 EU census and extrapolation from age-specific FGM prevalence rates in the immigrants’ home countries to these data were used to provide our estimates. Estimates based on census and other demographic data were compared to our results for Belgium.

Results: In 2011 over half a million first-generation women and girls in the EU, Norway and Switzerland had undergone FGM before immigration. One in two was living in the UK or France, one in two was born in East-Africa.

Conclusions: For the first time, scientific evidence gives a reliable estimate of the number of first-generation women and girls in Europe coming from countries where FGM is practiced. The use of census data proves reliable for policy makers to guide their actions, e.g., regarding training needs for health workers who might be confronted with women who have undergone FGM, or the need for reconstructive surgery.

Chinese abstract

背景: 女性生殖器阉割术 (FGM) ) 是出于非医疗原因对女性生殖器部分或全部切割的一种手术。目前还没有发现这个手术对身体健康的好处, 但会直接导致严重的长期的产科、妇科和性健康问题。欧洲的医务人员经常意识不到FGM的后果, 也缺乏对FGM女性进行充分治疗的知识。

目的: 我们的目标是估算欧盟、挪威和瑞士已行FGM的第一代女性的数量。在移民从做FGM手术的国家开始迁移之前, FGM在欧洲还是一个不为人知的现象。

方法: 我们的评估是对来自2011年欧盟的人口普查数据进行二次分析和从移民国有年龄梯度的FGM患病率到这些数据的外推。把基于人口普查和其他人口统计学数据的评估与比利时的结果作比较。

结果: 在2011年欧盟、挪威和瑞士已有超过五十万的第一代女性在移民之前已行FGM手术。1/2生活在英国和法国, 1/2出生于东非。

结论: 这是第一次用科学的证据对来自欧洲行FGM手术的那些国家的第一代女性数量给出可靠的估算。人口普查数据的应用对政策制定者指导他们的行动是可靠的, 例如关于培训医务人员如何面对已经行FGM手术的女性或如何进行FGM的重建外科手术。

Keywords:

• Female genital mutilation
• female genital cutting
• Europe
• migrant health
• prevalence

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.