1. The association between women's status and the medicalization of female genital cutting in Egypt

Abstract

Female genital cutting (FGC) is still widespread in Egyptian society. Data show a consistent increase in FGM/C being medicalized during the last decades. This study examines the relationship between Egyptian women's social positions and the medicalization of circumcision of their most recently circumcised daughter within a multilevel framework, to the best of our knowledge our study is the first to do this. We make use of the 2014 wave of the Egyptian Demographic Health Survey. Multilevel logistic regressions are used, thereby examining both the social status of the mother, as well as average levels of women's status and economic development at the governorate level. We find that the social economic status of the mother strongly relates to whether her daughter's circumcision was medicalized. Mothers living in a governorate with a relatively higher level of economic development are less likely to have their daughter circumcised by a trained health professional. This is in sharp contrast with the results for the average level of educational level of the governorate: living in a governorate with a higher proportion of higher-educated women rather increases this likelihood.