Estimating the indirect prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting in Switzerland (2021)
This study is a Descriptive research regarding All FGM/C with the following characteristics:
Author(s): Cottler-Casanova,S. and Abdulcadir,J.
FGM/C Type(s): All
Health area of focus: None.
Objective: To update the indirect estimates for women and girls living with Female Genital Mutilation Cutting (FGM/C) in Switzerland,using data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office of migrant women and girls born in one of the 30 high-prevalence FGM/C countries that are currently living in Switzerland. Such an update is the first step of a wider research project conducted in Switzerland in 2018 entitled “Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting with a focus on prevalence,risk factors and Swiss health care professionals’ capacities”.
Study Population: Total country prevalence estimates of women aged 15–49 to all migrant women and girls living in Switzerland from the same countries. separate analysis for girls aged 0–14,where they applied the prevalence estimates of girls 0–14 to all migrant girls 0–14 living in Switzerland from the same countries. Where no prevalence estimates for girls 0–14 were available,the authors applied the prevalence estimates for girls 15–19. They used the most recent MICS or DHS estimates available for each year (Table 1) and multiplied them to the number of immigrant women and girls from each FGM/C high-prevalence country from 2010 to 2018 based on the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO)‘s Interactive Databas
Findings: In 2010,the estimated number of women and girls living with or at risk of FGM/C in Switzerland was 9059,whereas in 2018,we estimated that 21,706 women and girls were living with or at risk of FGM/C.Conclusion
Over the past decade,there have been significant increases in the number of estimated women and girls living with or at risk of FGM/C in Switzerland due to the increase in the total number of women and girls originally coming form the countries where the practice of FGM/C is traditional.Our indirect estimates can only partially inform future policy and public health programs. The authors opine that indirect estimates should be conducted alongside direct estimates. Direct measures may provide more accurate estimates that could guide policy- and clinical decision-making.
Geographical coverage
Region(s):Western Europe
Country(ies):Switzerland