"Nurses and health professionals facing female genital mutilation: a qualitative study "

MIdoia Ugarte-Gurrutxaga; Victoria- Mazoteras-Pardo; Gonzalo Melgar de Corral; Brígida Molina-Gallego; Laura Mordillo-Mateos; Sagrario Gómez-Cantarino

doi:10.1186/s12912-023-01549-6

"Nurses and health professionals facing female genital mutilation: a qualitative study "

BMC Nurs. 2023 Oct 30;22(1):408. doi: 10.1186/s12912-023-01549-6.

Authors

MIdoia Ugarte-Gurrutxaga^{1

2}, Victoria- Mazoteras-Pardo^{3

4}, Gonzalo Melgar de Corral¹, Brígida Molina-Gallego^{1

2

5}, Laura Mordillo-Mateos¹, Sagrario Gómez-Cantarino^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain.
² Nursing, Pain and Care Research Group, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain.
³ Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain. victoria.mazoteras@uclm.es.
⁴ Nursing, Pain and Care Research Group, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain. victoria.mazoteras@uclm.es.
⁵ National Hospital of Paraplegics. Health Service of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain.

Abstract

Background: Transnational migratory movements make Spain a country with a very diverse population, including women and girls from countries where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is practiced. Given this reality, we set out to carry out a qualitative study to identify the knowledge, attitudes and skills of health professionals regarding FGM.

Method: Qualitative study with a content analysis approach. Forty-seven health professionals with the profiles of Nursing, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Midwifery and Gynecology and Obstetrics were purposively selected. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups. The qualitative content analysis approach was used for data analysis. The study was conducted in the years 2019 and 2022.

Results: Although most professionals are aware of the current legislation on FGM in Spain, only a few of them are aware of the existence of the FGM prevention protocol in Castilla-La Mancha. This lack of knowledge together with the perception that FGM belongs to the private sphere of women, contributes to the loss of opportunities to identify and prevent FGM.

Conclusion: Health professionals' training, especially midwives and pediatricians, is essential to the identification and action against Female Genital Mutilation.

Keywords: Female genital mutilation; Health Professionals; Midwifery; Midwives; Nursing.

Grants and funding

under grant no. CONTB/2019/6100001681/This research was funded by the General Directorate of Health Care of the Health Service of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, under grant no. CONTB/2019/6100001681 with the University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.