Indirect questioning method reveals hidden support for female genital cutting in South Central Ethiopia
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Female genital cutting (FGC) has major implications for women's physical, sexual and psychological health, and eliminating the practice is a key target for public health policy-makers. To date one of the main barriers to achieving this has been an inability to infer privately-held views on FGC within communities where it is prevalent. As a sensitive (and often illegal) topic, people are anticipated to hide their true support for the practice when questioned directly. Here we use an indirect questioning method (unmatched count technique) to identify hidden support for FGC in a rural South Central Ethiopian community where the practice is common, but thought to be in decline. Employing a socio-demographic household survey of 1620 Arsi Oromo adults, which incorporated both direct and indirect direct response (unmatched count) techniques we compare directly-stated versus privately-held views in support of FGC, and individual variation in responses by age, gender and education and target female (daughters versus daughters-in-law). Both genders express low support for FGC when questioned directly, while indirect methods reveal substantially higher acceptance (of cutting both daughters and daughters-in-law). Educated adults (those who have attended school) are privately more supportive of the practice than they are prepared to admit openly to an interviewer, indicating that education may heighten secrecy rather than decrease support for FGC. Older individuals hold the strongest views in favour of FGC (particularly educated older males), but they are also more inclined to conceal their support for FGC when questioned directly. As these elders represent the most influential members of society, their hidden support for FGC may constitute a pivotal barrier to eliminating the practice in this community. Our results demonstrate the great potential for indirect questioning methods to advance knowledge and inform policy on culturally-sensitive topics like FGC; providing more reliable data and improving understanding of the "true" drivers of FGC.
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The apparent dramatic recent decline in reported cutting may partly be explained by heightened secrecy around the practice, rather than reduced support for and practice of it, as some women who reported being cut in 2010 stated they were not cut five years later.
“Previously we reported how this apparent dramatic recent decline may partly be explained by heightened secrecy around the practice, rather than reduced support for and practice of it, as some women who reported being cut in 2010, stated they were not cut five years later (Gibson et al., 2018).”
From Abandoning female genital mutilation/cutting (FGMC) is an emerging but costly parental investment strategy in rural Ethiopia. (2023) · cites this paper as Gibson et al., 2018
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredFGMC prevalence may be underestimated in the sample due to reluctance to admit to a sensitive topic, but the authors do not consider this a significant concern given 72% of married daughters were reported as cut.
“FGMC is a sensitive topic which participants may have been reluctant to admit to, meaning its prevalence in the population may be underestimated in our sample (Gibson et al., 2018); however, given 72% of married daughters were reported as being cut, we do not consider this to be of significant concern.”
From Abandoning female genital mutilation/cutting (FGMC) is an emerging but costly parental investment strategy in rural Ethiopia. (2023) · cites this paper as Gibson et al., 2018
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Gibson, M. A., Gurmu, E., Cobo, B., Rueda, M. M., & Scott, I. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Addis Ababa University (ET)
- Universidad de Granada (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Gibson, Mhairi A.
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2018-05-02
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e0193985
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5931472
- OpenAlex
- W2800519377
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 5.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Institutional Repository of the University of Granada (University of Granada) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Institutional Repository of the University of Granada (University of Granada) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte ((grant FPU, Spain))
- Wellcome Trust (109778/Z/15/Z)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Genital Health and Disease
- Keywords
- female genital mutilation, indirect questioning, social desirability bias, south-central Ethiopia, age and gender differences, older adults
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Educational Status, Ethiopia, Family, Female, Housing, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors, Circumcision, Female, Young Adult
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