OBJECTIVE To describe the first dedicated clinic in the UK for children with suspected or confirmed female genital mutilation (FGM) including referral patterns, clinical findings and subsequent management. DESIGN AND SETTING A prospective study of all children seen in a dedicated multidisciplinary FGM clinic for children over a 1-year period. POPULATION Patients aged under 18 years referred...

Female genital cutting (FGC) is a widespread cultural practice in Africa and the Middle East, with a number of potential adverse health consequences for women. It was hypothesized by Kun (1997) that FGC increases the risk of HIV transmission through a number of different mechanisms. Using the 2003 data from the Kenyan Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), this study investigates the potential a...

The medicalization of female genital cutting (FGC) has been increasing. This cross-sectional study estimated the determinants of the practice of FGC among Egyptian physicians. Responses from 193 physicians showed that while 88% of them knew at least one adverse physical or sexual consequence, 18% approved of it, mostly as a religious observation (82%). Almost one-fifth (19%) of physicians pract...

BACKGROUND Female genital mutilation (FGM) is one of the important aspects of reproductive health. The economic, social and health consequences of FGM threaten the achievement of sustainable development goals. The purpose of this study was to assess the economic, social and reproductive health consequences of FGM from the perspective of individual, family, community and health system. METHODS...

Ingvild Lunde, a research fellow at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS), has studied campaigns against genital cutting in Hargeisa in Somalia. She has also examined attitudes towards female genital mutilation (FGM) and to the possible abandonment of the practice. She interviewed 22 representatives of organizations working on FGM issues, and 16 individuals from...

2 Embryology of the Female Genitourinary Tract ................................................ 22 2.1 Development of the Gonads ..................................... 22 2.2 Relationship Between the Early Fetal Genital and Urinary Systems ................................................. 25 2.3 Development of the Fallopian Tubes Uterus, Cervix and Vagina............................................

The process of paradigmatic attitudinal change has been analyzed by the use of multimethods and multileveled internalization theories. Forty-six informants (a network of activists and a group of Gambian women) have described their change of attitude to female genital cutting. This study shows that internalizing a packet of information as adults, that contradicts an old schema of knowledge inter...

Although the female condom has been introduced into over 90 countries since 1997, it has only been accepted in sexual and reproductive health programmes as a mainstream method in a few. This paper describes introductory strategies developed by Ministries of Health and non-governmental organisations in Brazil, Ghana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, supported by UNAIDS, and the manufacturers of the fe...

BACKGROUND Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful traditional practice with severe health complications, deeply rooted in many Sub-Saharan African countries. In The Gambia, the prevalence of FGM/C is 78.3% in women aged between 15 and 49 years. The objective of this study is to perform a first evaluation of the magnitude of the health consequences of FGM/C in The Gambia. METHO...