Interventions to reduce the prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting in African countries

Abstract

This systematic review aimed to answer the following research questions:1. What is the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) compared to no or other active intervention?2. How do factors related to the continuance and discontinuance of FGM/C help explain the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of FGM/C? The authors used an integrative evidence approach, whereby analyses of effectiveness data and context data were completed in separate streams, but where they, in the final step, integrated the results from the two sets of data in a realist synthesis approach. They included eight effectiveness studies (research question 1). All employed a controlled before-and-after study design. The quality assessment resulted in a final decision of weak study quality for all eight studies, which involved 7,042 participants residing in seven different African countries: Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia/Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal. they could perform four meta-analyses but there was doubt about the validity of all results. The results showed that the effectiveness of the included interventions was limited, although they pointed to potential advantageous developments, such as positive changes in attitudes and knowledge regarding FGM/C, as a result of the FGM/C abandonment interventions.