Decline of supportive attitudes among husbands toward female genital mutilation and its association to those practices in Yemen.

OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the attitudes of women and their husband's towards female genital mutilation (FGM) and their associations with the continuation of FGM upon their daughters. METHODS: Subjects were 10,345 (in 1997) and 11,252 (in 2003) ever married women aged 15 to 49 years from the Yemen Demographic Health Surveys. Performances of FGM on the most-recently-born daughters were investigated. Attitudes of women and their husbands were assessed by their opinions on the continuation of FGM. The association between the attitudes of women and their husbands and performance of FGM on the most-recently-born daughters were investigated after adjusting for age and education of the women. FINDINGS: The percentage among the most-recently-born daughters who received FGM of women who had undergone FGM declined from 61.9% in 1997 to 56.5% in 2003 (p<0.001). The percentages of women who had undergone FGM and who supported the continuation of FGM and of husbands who also supported its continuation decreased from 78.2% and 60.1% in 1997 to 70.9% and 49.5% in 2003, respectively (both p<0.001). When the women or the husbands did not agree with FGM, it was less likely to be performed on their daughter than when the women or the husbands agreed in 1997 (odds ratio=0.11, 95% confidence interval 0.07-0.16 and odds ratio=0.07, 95% confidence interval 0.04-0.12, respectively) and in 2003 (odds ratio=0.12, 95% confidence interval 0.09-0.16 and odds ratio=0.11, 95% confidence interval 0.07-0.16, respectively). CONCLUSION: Non-supportive attitudes of women and their husbands towards the continuation of FGM have become common and were associated with their decision not to perform FGM upon their daughters

Age and education of women and attitude and practice related with female genital mutilation (FGM) in Yemen, 1997 and 2003.

<p>p-values were calculated with chi-square tests.</p><p>^* After sampling weights were applied, numbers were rounded.</p><p>^# Due to missing cases, the sum number of cases by categories are not equal to the total number of cases.</p

Associations of age and education of women, woman's and husband's attitude towards female genital mutilation (FGM), and FGM performance on most-recently-born daughter among women who undergone FGM in Yemen in 1997 and 2003.

<p>Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using multivariable logistic regression analysis. The model included all variables in this table as independent variables.</p

Associations of age and education of women, woman's and husband's attitude towards female genital mutilation (FGM), and FGM performance on most-recently-born daughter among women who hadn't undergone FGM in Yemen in 1997 and 2003.

<p>Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using multivariable logistic regression analysis. The model included all variables in this table as independent variables.</p

FGM practice on most-recently-born daughter and attitudes towards FGM of women and their husbands for women who had undergone FGM and women who had not.

<p>FGM practice on most-recently-born daughter and attitudes towards FGM of women and their husbands for women who had undergone FGM and women who had not.</p