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Background: Among harmful traditional practices, Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is
widely practiced across the world. The practice involves either partial or total removal of the female
external genitalia for various reasons. FGM is documented to be rooted in religious, personal and
societal factors. The practice is documented to be widespread across Ethiopia and is believed to be
widely practiced in Somali region.
Objective: To assess barriers of behavioral change to stop FGM practice among women of Kebri
Beyah district in Somali region, where the high prevalence of FGM is documented.
Methods: A community-based cross-section study design was applied. Both quantitative and
qualitative methods were employed to generate relevant evidence. A total of 633 households drawn
from five randomly selected kebeles involved in the quantitative part of the study. Participants were
purposefully identified and involved in the qualitative study. The survey data was analyzed by SPSS
version 21. Multivariate analyses were carried out to examine the existence of a relationship between
dependent and socio demographic characteristics. On the other hand, qualitative data were analyzed
thematically and the result was presented in narration.
Results: This study revealed that 62.7% of the respondents have intention to circumcise their daughter
in the future. Religion was the major reasons for the perpetuation of this practice. About 73.2% of
circumcision was performed by traditional birth attendants. Eighty seven percent of participants
responded that FGM was being practiced in that area. More than 79.9% of participants were undergone
Sunni type of circumcision. Most 89.8% of respondents were found to have good knowledge about
negative health outcome of FGM and 66.1% of respondents had negative attitude towards FGM.
Literate women were less likely intending to continue FGM compared to illiterate women (AOR=0.58,
95% CI; (0.42-0.91)). Those who have television at home have less intention for continuation of FGM
compared to those who have not television. (AOR=0.49, 95% CI: (0.36, 0.77))
Conclusion: The study shows that the intention to stop female genital circumcision was less in Kebri
Beyah district. Most of women in this study have good knowledge about the negative health outcome
and negative attitude towards FGM. Yet, the prevalence of FGM/FGC is still high in the study area.
Most of them undergo Sunni (clitoridectomy) type of circumcision. Traditional birth attendants were
the main operators of female circumcision. Intention of women to stop FGM showed association with
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education status and television. Religious organizations should have to explain to the community that
there is no religious justification for the practice of FGM. Local organizations, community and
religious leaders should play major role in the process to bring good intention to stop FGM within the
entire community by arranging training, workshops, media campaign, public speech and outreach for
awareness creation programmers. |
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