{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,28]],"date-time":"2026-01-28T11:25:03Z","timestamp":1769599503996,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,14]],"date-time":"2024-06-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1718323200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,14]],"date-time":"2024-06-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1718323200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Bavarian State Ministry for Family Affairs, Labour, and Social Affairs","award":["C0004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C0004"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Women's Health"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Worldwide, at least 230\u00a0million girls and women are affected by female genital mutilation\/ cutting (FGM\/C). FGM\/C violates human rights and can cause irreparable harm and even lead to death. In 2022, more than 100,000 survivors of FGM\/C lived in Germany, and more than 17,000 girls were considered at risk. Due to the increasing number, there is a need to improve the skills of professionals not only to treat FGM\/C but also to prevent it, aiming to maintain or improve women\u2019s physical and mental health. However, previous studies mostly focused on health care providers, even though other professionals such as social workers, play an important role in the provision of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care and are often the first point of contact. Therefore, the study\u2019s main objective was to understand challenges perceived by social workers in pregnancy counselling centres in the provision of good quality of SRH care for girls and women suffering from or endangered by FGM\/C.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A quantitative self-administered cross-sectional online survey was sent by e-mail in 2021 to all pregnancy counselling centers in the German federal state of Bavaria.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Among the 141 participants, 82% reported no or insufficient FGM\/C knowledge and barriers to provide the best quality of care. The main findings were language obstacles (82.7%), perceived client\u2019s fear or shame (67.9%) and cultural difficulties (45.7%). Furthermore, participants also reported a lack of competence on the professional side (29.6%). Importantly, most participants (129 of 141; 92%) expressed interest in training.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Providing comprehensive good quality sexual and reproductive health care to women and girls affected from or endangered by FGM\/C is challenging. The study revealed the importance of strengthening the skills of social workers and suggested the following strategies: (1) enhancing FGM\/C knowledge and skills (including specialized competences e.g., in mental health) by improving training and information material for the target group, (2) improving referral pathways and addressing deficits in the existing care system (e.g. with health or legal institutions), and (3) developing trusting relationships with cultural (or traditional) mediators to build strong community networks.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12905-024-03154-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,14]],"date-time":"2024-06-14T05:02:36Z","timestamp":1718341356000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Challenges perceived by social workers to prevent FGM\/C in Bavaria: a prospective, cross-sectional survey"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"N.","family":"Seifert","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"E.","family":"M\u00fcrdter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"NC.","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"3154_CR1","unstructured":"World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on the management of health complications from female genital mutilation. 2016 https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications\/i\/item\/9789241549646 Accessed 16 March 2023."},{"key":"3154_CR2","unstructured":"UNICEF Data Female genital mutilation. 2021. https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/topic\/child-protection\/female-genital-mutilation\/ Accessed 16 March 2023."},{"key":"3154_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"En-Nosse M, Schmidt NC, Klar M, Juhasz-B\u00f6ss I, Hasanov MF. FGM\/C-Wissensstand und Fortbildungsbedarf unter Gesundheitspersonal in Freiburg. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd. 2020; 80(10): e179; https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1055\/s-0040-1718103 Accessed 16 March 2023.","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0040-1718103"},{"key":"3154_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Costello S. Female genital mutilation\/cutting: risk management and strategies for social workers and health care professionals. 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Weibliche Genitalverst\u00fcmmelung [female genital mutilation]. 2020. https:\/\/www.bmfsfj.de\/bmfsfj\/themen\/gleichstellung\/frauen-vor-gewalt-schuetzen\/weibliche-genitalverstuemmelung-80720 Accessed 27 March 2023."},{"key":"3154_CR10","unstructured":"Terre des Femmes. Dunkelzifferstatistik zu weiblicher Genitalverst\u00fcmmelung in Deutschland [Underreported statistics on female genital mutilation in Germany]. 2022. https:\/\/frauenrechte.de\/images\/aktuelles\/2022\/FGM\/2022_Dunkelzifferscha%CC%88tzung_final.pdf Accessed 15 March 2023."},{"key":"3154_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Abdulcadir J, Say L, Pallitto C. What do we know about assessing healthcare students and professionals\u2019 knowledge, attitude and practice regarding female genital mutilation? A systematic review. 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