SOMALIA

lia/2012/Dhayi
© UNICEF Soma

STATISTICAL COUNTRY PROFILE ON FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/CUTTING

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) refers No national decree/legislation banning FGM/C

to “all procedures involving partial or total
removal of the female external genitalia or other
injury to the female genital organs for
KEY STATISTICS ON WOMEN’S STATUS
1
non-medical reasons.” At least 125 million
girls and women alive today have been cut in the
29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where
8% of women 20-24 years old married or in
union before age 15
FGM/C is concentrated. As many as 30 million
girls are at risk of being cut before their 15th 45% of women 20-24 years old married or in
union before age 18
birthday if current trends continue. FGM/C is a
violation of girls’ and women’s human rights and of women 15-24 years old that are able
is condemned by many international treaties and
conventions, as well as by national legislation in
25% to read a short simple statement about
everyday life
many countries. Yet, where it is practiced FGM/C
is performed in line with tradition and social of ever-married women 15-49 years old
norms to ensure that girls are socially accepted
and marriageable, and to uphold their status and 76% think that a husband/partner is justified
in hitting/beating his wife under certain
honour and that of the entire family. UNICEF circumstances
works with government and civil society partners
towards the elimination of FGM/C in countries
15%
of women 15-49 years old in union
where it is still practised. currently using any contraceptive
1. World Health Organization, Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation: An interagency statement, WHO, method
UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIFEM, OHCHR, UNHCR, UNECA, UNESCO, UNDP, UNAIDS, WHO, Geneva, 2008, p. 4.
Source: MICS 2006

Data and Analytics Section

DIVISION OF POLICY AND STRATEGY
 HOW
HOW WIDESPREAD
WIDESPREAD IS
IS THE
THE PRACTICE?
PRACTICE?

FGM/C is nearly universal among girls and women in Somalia

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C, by residence and household
who have undergone FGM/C, by region wealth quintile

100 98 98 97 98 96

Less than 10%

80
10% - 25%
60
26% - 50%

51% - 80% 40

Above 80%
20

0
Total Rural Urban Poorest Richest

Among daughters of cut girls and women, the percentage of those who
Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years with Percentage
at least oneof girlsdaughter
living and women
whoaged
has 15-49 years
who have had FGM/C, by préfecture have undergone FGM/C, by mothers’ attitudes about whether the
undergone FGM/C, by residence, mother's education and household wealth quintile
practice should continue
100 100

80 80

60 55 60 65
46 48 47 49 48
45 44 43
40 40 33

20 20
3
0 0 Daughters whose
Total Urban Rural No Primary Secondary or Koranic/ Poorest Richest Daughters whose Daughters whose
mothers think mothers say it depends /
education complete higher non-standard mothers think
curriculum FGM/C should FGM/C should stop are not sure
continue

WHEN
WHEN AND
AND HOW
HOW IS
IS FGM/C
FGM/C PERFORMED?
PERFORMED?

The vast majority of girls experience the practice between the ages of 5 and 9, and more than half undergo
the most severe form of FGM/C

P
Percentage 15-49
distribution of girls and women agedyears
15 towho have with
49 years at least one daughter
at least one livingwho has had
daughter FGM/C,
who by place ofFGM/C,
has undergone residence andatmother's
by age education
which cutting occurred

0-4 years

5-9 years

6 82 11 1
10-14 years
Don’t know/
Missing

0 20 40 60 80 100
0 20 40 60 80 100
Notes: The boundaries and the names shown and the
Percentage distribution of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years designations used on the map do not imply official
with at least one living daughter who has undergone FGM/C, endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Only
by type of FGM/C performed categories with 25 or more unweighted cases are presented.
Due to rounding, some of the data presented may not add
up to 100 per cent. There is no ethnicity or religion data for
Cut, no flesh Somalia.

5 removed/Nicked
7
Cut, flesh
removed
25
Sewn closed

Type not
63 determined/Not
sure/Don’t know

Source for all charts on this page: MICS 2006

 WHAT ARE THE PREVAILING ATTITUDES TOWARDS FGM/C?

Almost two thirds of girls and women think the practice should continue

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have heard about FGM/C, by their attitudes about whether the practice should continue

Think FGM/C should continue Think FGM/C should stop Say it depends/are not sure

65 33 3

0 20 40 60 80 100

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have heard about FGM/C and think the practice should continue, by household wealth quintile,
education, residence and age

100

78
80 72
69
65 65 64
60
60 53 54
47 47
40

20

0
Total Poorest Richest No education Primary Secondary Koranic/ Rural Urban 45-49 years 15-19 years
complete or higher non-standard
curriculum

IS THE PRACTICE OF FGM/C CHANGING?

There has been no change in the prevalence of FGM/C over time

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C, by current age

99 98 99 99 98 98 97
100

80

60

40

20

0
45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19

Source for all of the above charts: MICS 2006

Notes: N/A = not
In Northeast Zone and Somaliland, percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 who have undergone FGM/C, by age groups available. There are
no ethnicity data for
Somalia. In Somalia,
Somaliland Northeast Zone
questions on FGM/C
100 100 99 100 99 100 99 99 were included in the
98 98 98 99 98 99 97 2011 MICS conducted
80 separately in the
Northeast Zone (also
referred to as
60
Puntland) and
Somaliland. Data are
40
preliminary and do
not allow for the
20 calculation of
national figures.
0
45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19

Source: MICS 2011

 SOMALIA

INTER-COUNTRY STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

Percentage of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years who have undergone FGM/C

100 96 98
91 93
88 88 89 89

80 74 76 76
69
66
60
50
44
40 38

26 27 27
24
20 17
13 15
8
1 1 2 4 4
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100

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100

80 73
69
64 65 66

60 54
49
45
41 41 42
37 38
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Notes: Data on attitudes for Yemen refer to ever-married girls and women. In Liberia, girls and women who have heard of the Sande society were asked whether they were members; this provides indirect
information on FGM/C since it is performed during initiation into the society. Data on daughters for Iraq refer to ever-married girls and women with at least one daughter who has undergone FGM/C. Data
on attitudes for Ghana are from MICS 2006, for Nigeria from DHS 2008, and for Sierra Leone from DHS 2008 as data from the most recently available MICS surveys are not comparable. In Liberia, only cut
girls and women were asked about their attitudes towards FGM/C; since girls and women from practising communities are more likely to support the practice, the level of support in this country as
captured by the DHS 2007 is higher than would be anticipated had all girls and women been asked their opinion.

Sources: DHS, MICS, National Social Protection Monitoring Survey and SHHS, 1997-2012 Released December 2013

These country profiles were made possible through core funding to UNICEF
and financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of these country
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Data and Analytics Section - Division of Policy and Strategy
profiles are the sole responsibility of UNICEF and can in no way reflect the views
of the European Union. UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York, 10017
The Data and Analytics Section gratefully acknowledges inputs shared by UNICEF country offices. Website: www.childinfo.org Email: childinfo@unicef.org