Attitudes toward Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Understanding the attitudes toward FGM/C held by people who have been involved in this practice can lead to more active interventions to prevent this harmful practice. In order to achieve this, a systematic review was performed on scientific articles. Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct) were examined to identify articles. Results: Our initial search resulted in 3013 articles, of which 40 articles with estimations of attitudes toward FGM/C were reviewed. The results indicate that the random-effects pooled estimation of negative attitudes toward FGM/C practice was 53% (95% CI 47-59; p < 0.001). Furthermore, the pooled estimation of attitudes toward the decision not to circumcise young daughters was 63% (95% CI 46-80; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Despite the increased awareness and efforts to ban FGM/C in many countries around the world, our review demonstrates that positive attitudes toward FGM/C are still far from being eradicated and have hardly changed in the past years. This issue reflects deeply rooted cultural and social concerns of health care professionals with regard to continuing the practice. The authors believe that circumcised women can play a key role in encouraging the abandonment of FGM/C through educational and cultural campaigns.