Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Australian Midwives’ Knowledge and Attitudes

Abstract

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a women's health and human rights issue attracting global interest. My purpose in this qualitative study was to report the knowledge and attitudes of Australian midwives toward FGM. Verbatim transcription and thematic analysis of semistructured interviews with 11 midwives resulted in these themes: knowledge of female genital mutilation and attitude toward female genital mutilation. Significant gaps in knowledge about FGM featured prominently. The midwives expressed anger toward FGM and empathy for affected women. Recommendations include increased information on FGM and associated legislation among midwives and other health providers in countries where FGM may be encountered.

Understanding the motivations of health-care providers in performing female genital mutilation: an integrative review of the literature

“…In fact, the quality assessment of included studies revealed that only one study had a high methodological quality [35]. Ten (10) studies had moderate methodological limitations [36–45], two were rated as being of low quality [46, 47], and the scientific report of one study provided very limited information for the reader to assess the rigor and quality of the research and was therefore judged as being of very low quality [48]. …”

“…Some studies mentioned the legal liability of health-care providers as a reason for not performing FGM [36, 44–46]. This was mainly found in countries where FGM is not the norm (Belgium, Australia and United-States of America).…”

“…However, this survey did not explore the reasons further. In another study, Australian midwives were found to have a highly negative attitude towards FGM by expressing anger towards this tradition, which could indicate that they consider FGM to be a bad practice [36]. …”

“…The fact that some of the providers either have a positive attitude towards FGM, have undergone FGM themselves or have maintained the tradition for their daughters [35, 38–41, 46, 48] indicates that it is not always obvious for them to make a distinction between their personal beliefs and their professional obligations. On the other hand, health-care providers working in countries in which FGM is not part of the culture generally seemed to have negative attitudes towards this tradition [36]. However, several researchers assumed that providers working in countries where FGM is not the norm would be against the practice.…”

“…[44] (2008)BelgiumTo assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices with regard to FGM among gynaecologists in Flanders, BelgiumDescriptive studyQuestionnaireMedical doctors (gynaeco-logists)333FGM & Re-infibulationMostafa & al. [38] (2006)EgyptTo explore the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of medical students; to explore the students’ opinions about the medicalization of FGMCross-sectional descriptive studyStructured questionnairesMedical students298FGMNjue & Askew [47] (2005)KenyaTo assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of health-care providers and the community in general about the medicalization of FGM among the AbagusiiDescriptive studyIn-depth interviewsNurses29FGMClinicians or doctors14Support staff nurses17Nurse aides8Midwives5Community health workers2Ogunsiji [36] (2015)AustraliaTo report the knowledge and attitude of Australian midwives towards FGMQualitative studySemi-structures interviewsMidwives11FGM & Re-infibulationOnuh & al. [40] (2006)NigeriaTo determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of FGM among nurses in the ancient metropolis of Benin (urban environment) in a Nigerian state where FGM is illegalDescriptive studySelf-administered structured questionnaireNurses182FGMRefaat [37] (2009)EgyptTo estimate the determinants of the practice of FGM among Egyptian physiciansCross-sectional descriptive studySelf-administered questionnaireMedical doctors193FGMRelph & al.…”