The determinants of female genital mutilation among daughters in Nigeria

Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision (FGM/C) refers to the complete or incomplete removal of the female external genital or other injuries for non-medical or cultural reasons. It is a culturally harmful practice without health benefits with long-term complications to women's psychological, physical, and sexual health and well-being that violates the victims' rights because it is done without their consent. Despite International efforts to eradicate this harmful practice, it persists, therefore, this study examined the sociodemographic factors of mothers of reproductive age that affected the likelihood of their daughters undergoing female genital mutilation or circumcision. The 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) female genital mutilation response weighted data of women of reproductive age 15-49 years was used for this study. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to predict the determinants of female genital mutilation among daughters, and those with a p-value of ≤.05 were considered statistically significant determinants. Results showed a statistically significant difference between educational level, ethnicity of household head, household wealth index, geopolitical zone, ever circumcised, and daughter circumcised at Alpha =.05 in the multivariable regression analysis. Place of Residence and Marital Status were not statistically significant in the multivariable regression analysis at Alpha =.05. Considering that Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people, a figure of 14.2% of daughters circumcised is high and, therefore, requires concerted interventions by all stakeholders to address this harmful practice.