Exploring Perceptions of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Abandonment (FGM/C) in Kenyan Health Care Professionals.

ABSTRACT: Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) remains a global problem. We aimed to explore Kenyan health care professionals' (HCPs) perceptions of FGM/C abandonment and, in particular, those focused on those serving Maasai communities who continue to practice FGM/C. Using a grounded theory Straussian approach, 18 interviews were conducted with HCPs in Kajiado County, Kenya, to understand perceptions of FGM/C as a cultural practice, identify barriers and facilitators to abandonment, and explore attitudes to medicalization (FGM/C conducted by HCPs) and alternatives of FGM/C. Within a substantive theory, one core category ("FGM/C persists but can be abandoned") comprised two subcategories: "exploring the influencers of persistence" and the "roadmap to abandonment." HCPs believed collaborative mu

SUBMITTER: Mohamud A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8552390 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature