MGF in Portugal: research provides insights into strategies for eliminating the ritual

FCT and the Portuguese Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG) co-funded a study that has produced the first scientific data on the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Portugal. The team, led by sociologist Manuel Lisboa, at CESNOVA (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) also looked into the views and awareness of communities and health professionals regarding the practice of FGM, on the one hand, and the available clinical support and public policies for the elimination of FGM, on the other. Their findings, and related recommendations on the effort to prevent and eliminate FGM, are considered a much-needed starting point for the work to be carried out in the third action plan of the Portuguese nationwide plan to fight against and prevent domestic and gender violence (Plano Nacional de Combate e Prevenção da Violência Doméstica e de Género).

In the communities where it is found, FGM is carried out mainly on young girls – from newborn to 15 – but also, in some environments, on adult women. It is unequivocally recognized as a violation of women's rights, whatever the age, and is manifestly condemned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by several other international conventions. Portugal receives migrants from several countries where FGM is carried out (Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, among others) but, until now, there was no solid data on how prevalent the ritual is in Portugal.

In an approach that has been used in recent studies in other countries, the researchers extrapolated known data on the prevalence of FGM in each country to the number of women originally from these countries currently living in Portugal. After an initial approach applied to women aged between 15 and 49, the team extended their analysis to women over 50. The findings suggest that more than 6,500 women living in Portugal may have been subjected to FGM. The majority of these women live in the districts of Lisbon and Setúbal, followed by Faro, in the south. The geographical breakdown of the prevalence data is considered particularly useful in informing local efforts to identify cases, with a view to eliminating occurrences, as well as in developing local information and prevention campaigns.

To understand the social contexts and characteristics associated with the practice of FGM, the team conducted a questionnaire-based survey of 123 members of communities affected by FGM (87 women and 36 men). The vast majority of respondents do not consider FGM to be "a good practice" (99% of women; 94% of men). Among the women, 40% know of other women or girls in their family who have been subjected to FGM; among men, this number was 18%. Of the women, 5% believe they would want their daughters to undergo FGM, while 6% of the men claimed they would like their future wife to be excised.

The issues in the questionnaires were further explored through in-depth interviews with women who either had or had not been subjected to FGM, with men from countries where the ritual is carried out, with health professionals, and with leaders of immigrant communities. The women acknowledge the brutality of FGM, and that it is a deeply cultural and religious ritual. The men are somewhat ambivalent towards the practice: although clearly a cruel practice, it is the “women’s business,” and important for the inclusion of girls and women in the community.

This was a multidisciplinary study, bringing together expertise from sociology, anthropology, psychology, women's studies, gynecology, sexology, public health, law, and statistics. The project was selected by an international panel of experts, in a call for proposals launched by FCT in 2013, as part of the protocol signed with the Portuguese Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG).

The report of the study, Female Genital Mutilation : prevalence, sociocultural dynamics, and recommendations for its elimination, was released this month and is available here and on the CIG website.