Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mauri, Fabio; Cottler‐Casanova, Sara; Cavassini, Matthias; Stoeckle, Marcel; Wandeler, Gilles; Schmid, Patrick; Braun, Dominique L; Scherrer, Alexandra U.; Bernasconi, Enos; Calmy, Alexandra; Abdulcadir, Jasmine

doi:10.1007/s10903-022-01390-0

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This was even true for midwives (20%) who by essence will be caring for the area where the FGM/C is performed. This issue of discomfort of professionals in addressing this topic has already been described, in France by Tantet et al, 2018 [ 11 ] and in Switzerland on HIV patients by Mauri et al, 2022 [ 22 ] and more generally by Evans et al 2019 [ 6 ] who discuss the consequences of lack of culturally sensitive care, including communication, in greater detail.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Knowledge of female genital cutting among health and social care professionals in Francophone Belgium: A cross-sectional survey

O’Neill,

Richard,

Alexander

et al. 2024

PLOS Glob Public Health

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The provision of optimal, equitable and gender-sensitive health-care to women and girls with FGM/C is challenging. Research indicates that health-professionals in receiving countries lack knowledge, confidence and competence in managing FGM/C. In order to develop policies that are suitable to the wide heterogeneity of women from FGM/C practising groups, it is paramount to identify what appropriate care might consist of and what are the knowledge gaps of health and social-care providers. The study-objective was to gain an understanding of the knowledge and practices of professionals working in the area of health in Francophone Belgium where no previous KAP has been done. An anonymous questionnaire with 24 questions was developed targeting healthcare and social-care professionals. The questionnaire was distributed between 6 May and 30 August 2021 via professional organisations for midwifery, social work, GPs, infectious disease specialists, paediatricians and gynaecologists. The results are presented as frequencies, differences in proportions between groups were tested with Pearson’s Chi-square, when applicable. Correlations were tested by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The threshold of statistical significance is 5%. Four-hundred-and-sixty individuals filled in the questionnaire of which 42% were medical-doctors, 6% nurses, 27% midwives and 25% non-medical professionals (social-workers and psychologists). 55% of non-medical professionals had provided support for women with FGM/C. Almost 40% of health-professionals knew that there were 4 types of FGM and were able to correctly describe them, 15% were unable to correctly describe any of the 4 types. Those who had already provided care for women with FGM/C were more numerous to know that there were 4 types (52%). Two health-professionals had received requests to perform FGM/C. Twenty-seven midwives and medical-doctors had received requests for re-infibulation. Growing numbers of health and social-care professionals are providing care for women with FGM/C. However, knowledge of FGM/C is suboptimal. Continuous professional training is crucial.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Knowledge of female genital cutting among health and social care professionals in Francophone Belgium: A cross-sectional survey

O’Neill,

Richard,

Alexander

et al. 2024

PLOS Glob Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This was even true for midwives (20%) who by essence will be caring for the area where the FGM/C is performed. This issue of discomfort of professionals in addressing this topic has already been described, in France by Tantet et al, 2018 13 and in Switzerland on HIV patients by Mauri et al, 2022 20 and more generally by Evans et al 2019 8 who discuss the consequences of lack of culturally sensitive care, including communication, in greater detail.…”

Section: Discomfort With Addressing the Topicmentioning

confidence: 90%

Knowledge of Female Genital Cutting among health and social care professionals in Francophone Belgium: A cross-sectional survey

O‘Neill

Richard

Alexander

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background The provision of optimal, equitable and gender-sensitive health care to women and girls with FGM/C is challenging. Research indicates that health professionals in receiving countries lack knowledge, confidence and competence in managing FGM/C. In order to develop policies that are suitable to the wide heterogeneity of women from FGM/C practising groups, it is paramount to identify what appropriate care might consist of and what are the knowledge gaps of health and social-care providers. No previous research has specifically addressed the knowledge and practices of health professionals in Francophone Belgium and the bi-lingual Brussels region. Methods An anonymous questionnaire with 24 questions was developed targeting healthcare and social-care professionals. The questionnaire was distributed between 6 May and 30 August 2021via professional organisations for midwifery, social work, GPs, infectious disease specialists, internal medicine, paediatricians and gynaecologists. The results are presented as frequencies, differences in proportions between groups were tested with Pearson's Chi-square, when applicable. Correlations were tested by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The threshold of statistical significance is 5%. Results 460 individuals filled in the questionnaire of which 42% were medical doctors, 6% nurses, 27% midwives and 25% non-medical professionals (social workers and psychologists). 55% of non-medical professionals had provided support for women with FGM/C. Almost 40% of health professionals knew that there were 4 types of FGM and were able to correctly describe them, 15% were unable to correctly describe any of the 4 types. Those who had already provided care for FGM/C were more numerous to know that there were 4 types (52%). Two health professionals had received requests to perform FGM/C. Twenty-seven midwives and medical doctors had received requests for re-infibulation. Conclusion Growing numbers of health and social care professionals are providing care for women with FGM/C. However, knowledge of FGM/C is suboptimal. Continuous professional training is crucial.

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Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

Knowledge of female genital cutting among health and social care professionals in Francophone Belgium: A cross-sectional survey

Knowledge of female genital cutting among health and social care professionals in Francophone Belgium: A cross-sectional survey

Knowledge of Female Genital Cutting among health and social care professionals in Francophone Belgium: A cross-sectional survey

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