Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a serious, widespread and persistent threat to the health of women, girls, and communities worldwide. Existing evidence about FGM/C’s drivers, risk factors, epidemiologic profile, and health complications are well documented. However, there are areas of inquiry that remain under-explored in current evidence, limiting governments, institutions, and donors’ ability to make progress in both preventing the practice and improving the quality of life for people with FGM/C. This collection aims to address the specific gaps detailed below by focusing on under-explored areas of inquiry related to FGM/C, including life-course and social determinants perspectives.
We welcome original scholarship that addresses the current gaps in what we know about FGM/C. Submission formats may include study reports, conceptual analyses, policy analyses/briefs, robust program evaluations, evaluations of curricula and associated learning outcomes, systematic reviews, and mapping reviews. In addition, we encourage submissions that are led by persons with FGM/C, from communities that practice FGM/C, and/or that center the perspectives of people with FGM/C.
We are particularly interested in: • FGM/C in regions with fewer data or low-prevalence, such as East, South and Central Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, and Europe. • Non-surgical interventions to address long-term sequelae (e.g., pelvic floor physical therapy, psychosexual counseling, etc.) • New data on surgical interventions to address long-term sequelae (e.g., timing of defibulation, clitorial reconstruction techniques, etc.) • Life-course perspectives on FGM/C, including how risks, health needs, and social consequences evolve from childhood through older adulthood. • Long-term morbidities related to FGM/C, particularly the effects of perimenopause and menopause and interventions to address them • Implications and experiences of less frequently covered types of FGM/C such as I, II, and IV • How health systems respond to and support survivors’ needs, barriers to care, access to quality health care for survivors of FGM/C, and evidence-based solutions to improving provider competencies • How recent changes in global development funding have impacted or may impact FGM/C research and programming • How the intersection of determinants of health — such as education, poverty, rural or urban residence, and migration (caused by climate crises and/or conflict) — shape FGM/C prevalence, health outcomes, and access to care • Evaluations of anti-FGM/C policies/legislation and their real-world implementation in health systems • Rigorous and/or long-term evaluation of prevention and abandonment programs (e.g., the role of men and boys, gender norms influence on decision-making about FGM/C and abandonment of the practice, alternative rites of passage, alternative streams of income for practitioners & providers)
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Classification
Clinical Trial
Community Case Study
Conceptual Analysis
Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
Data Report
Editorial
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
