{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T01:34:40Z","timestamp":1777944880891,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,26]],"date-time":"2025-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748217600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,26]],"date-time":"2025-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748217600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Womens Health (Lond Engl)"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a human rights violation that still affects more than 3 million girls aged 0\u201314\u2009years each year. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 2030 agenda, efforts have been made at the local, national and international levels to end the practice by the year 2030. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic may have reversed the progress made due to increased rates of early marriage of girls, violence against children and school closures during lockdowns. Although some surveys have examined changes in FGM prevalence over the COVID-19 period, changes at the national and sub-national levels among 0\u201314\u2009years old girls have not been quantified.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aimed to understand the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the likelihood of FGM among girls aged 0\u201314\u2009years, and whether it affected progress towards the elimination of FGM.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We used Bayesian hierarchical regression models implemented within the integrated nested Laplace approximations frameworks.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We modelled the likelihood and prevalence of FGM among girls aged 0\u201314\u2009years before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, with respect to individual- and community-level characteristics, using Bayesian hierarchical models. We used the 2018 Demographic and Health Survey as the pre-COVID-19 period and the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey as the post-COVID-19 period.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>At the state level, FGM prevalence varied geographically and increased by 23% and 27% in the northwestern states of Katsina and Kana, respectively. There were 11% increase in Kwara and 14% increase in Oyo. However, at the national level, the prevalence of FGM was found to decrease from 19.5% to 12.3% between 2018 and 2021. Cultural factors were identified as the key drivers of FGM among 0\u201314\u2009years old girls in Nigeria. The changes in the likelihood of girls undergoing FGM across the two time periods also varied across ethnic and religious groups following COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings highlight that FGM is still a social norm in some states\/regions and groups in Nigeria, thereby highlighting the need for a continued but accelerated FGM interventions throughout the country.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/17455057241311948","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,26]],"date-time":"2025-05-26T14:32:07Z","timestamp":1748269927000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A robust cross-sectional assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of female genital mutilation among 0\u201314 years old girls in Nigeria"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-3158-5906","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Corentin","family":"Vis\u00e9e","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium"},{"name":"Institute of Life, Earth and Environment (ILEE), University of Namur, Namur, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9085-0591","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Camille","family":"Morlighem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium"},{"name":"Institute of Life, Earth and Environment (ILEE), University of Namur, Namur, Belgium"},{"name":"Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S-FNRS), Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5841-3700","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chibuzor Christopher","family":"Nnanatu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK"},{"name":"Department of Statistics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","volume-title":"Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement \u2013 OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, WHO","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2008","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement \u2013 OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, WHO. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2008."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","first-page":"217","article-title":"Female genital mutilation. Overview and current knowledge","volume":"71","author":"Andro A","year":"2016","unstructured":"Andro A, Lesclingand M, Grieve M, et al. Female genital mutilation. Overview and current knowledge. Population 2016; 71: 217\u2013296.","journal-title":"Population"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00404-023-06929-6"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nwh.2023.02.002"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","first-page":"100189","article-title":"Female genital mutilation in Africa: Scoping the landscape of evidence","volume":"12","author":"Obiora OL","year":"2020","unstructured":"Obiora OL, Maree JE, Nkosi-Mafutha N. Female genital mutilation in Africa: Scoping the landscape of evidence. Int J Afr Nurs Sci 2020; 12: 100189.","journal-title":"Int J Afr Nurs Sci"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","first-page":"107","volume-title":"Violence in intimate spaces: law and beyond","author":"Mohan V","unstructured":"Mohan V. Navigating intimate spaces of violence: global legal responses on female genital mutilation\/cutting. In: Anurag PM, Dwivedy S (eds) Violence in intimate spaces: law and beyond. Singapore: Springer Nature, 2024, pp. 107\u2013128."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1004061"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31899\/rh7.1023"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","unstructured":"WHO. Female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation: fact sheet https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/female-genital-mutilation (2024 accessed 31 March 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","unstructured":"UNICEF. Female genital mutilation\/cutting: a global concern. New York: UNICEF https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/fr-fr\/en\/media\/too-much-pain-female-genital-mutilation-and-asylum-european-union-statistical-overview (2016)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","unstructured":"Orchid Project. Impacts of COVID-19 on female genital cutting https:\/\/www.orchidproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/COVID_female_genital_cutting_FGC_policy_briefing_Orchid_Project_FINAL.pdf (2020)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-022-13422-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","unstructured":"UNICEF. Female genital mutilation and the humanitarian development nexus: practical ways to support programme-level implementation https:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/20.500.14041\/3501 (2022 accessed 7 December 2023)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09614524.2022.2093331"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","unstructured":"Matanda D Walgwe EL. 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