Table 1 Sample characteristics, knowledge and perceptions about FGM/C among medical and non-medical university students (n = 502)
Totala | Non-medical | Medical | χ2 | p-valuec | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N = 502 | % | N = 291 | % | N = 211 | % | |||
Gender, male | 270 | 54.0 | 164 | 56.6 | 106 | 50.5 | 1.810 | 0.203 |
Residence, rural | 292 | 58.2 | 167 | 57.4 | 125 | 59.2 | 0.173 | 0.714 |
Mother’s education | ||||||||
Secondary complete/higher | 236 | 47.1 | 126 | 43.4 | 110 | 52.1 | 5.327 | 0.070 |
Primary complete/some secondary | 201 | 40.1 | 120 | 41.4 | 81 | 38.4 | ||
No education/some primary | 64 | 12.8 | 44 | 15.2 | 20 | 9.5 | ||
Father’s education | ||||||||
Secondary complete/higher | 265 | 53.2 | 146 | 50.5 | 119 | 56.9 | 5.485 | 0.064 |
Primary complete/some secondary | 209 | 42.0 | 124 | 42.9 | 85 | 40.7 | ||
No education/some primary | 24 | 4.8 | 19 | 6.6 | 5 | 2.4 | ||
Knows about FGM/C, yes | 440 | 88.7 | 247 | 86.7 | 193 | 91.5 | 2.792 | 0.114 |
Aware of any legislation that bans FGM/C, yes | 204 | 46.7 | 111 | 45.1 | 93 | 48.7 | 0.55 | 0.499 |
Source of knowledge about FGM/C | ||||||||
Family | 140 | 32.0 | 91 | 37.0 | 49 | 25.5 | 8.714 | 0.033 |
Educational curricula/health education | 162 | 37.0 | 89 | 36.2 | 73 | 38.0 | ||
Mass media | 90 | 20.5 | 41 | 16.7 | 49 | 25.5 | ||
Other | 46 | 10.5 | 25 | 10.2 | 21 | 10.9 | ||
Purpose of conducting FGM/Cb | ||||||||
Traditions | 372 | 67.9 | 200 | 64.5 | 172 | 72.3 | 7.468 | 0.058 |
Religious | 95 | 17.3 | 52 | 16.8 | 43 | 18.1 | ||
Medical | 22 | 4.0 | 15 | 4.8 | 7 | 2.9 | ||
Other | 59 | 10.8 | 43 | 13.9 | 16 | 6.7 | ||
Disagree with perception items: | ||||||||
Acceptance of the FGM/C practice | 280 | 56.2 | 151 | 52.6 | 129 | 61.1 | 3.590 | 0.068 |
Females should be circumcised before marriage | 296 | 59.3 | 158 | 54.7 | 138 | 65.7 | 6.146 | 0.016 |
FGM/C should be banned from media discussions | 337 | 67.8 | 188 | 65.5 | 149 | 71.0 | 1.648 | 0.208 |
The television is unimportant in preventing FGM/C | 324 | 65.1 | 184 | 63.9 | 140 | 66.7 | 0.412 | 0.568 |
FGM/C has religious basis | 198 | 39.7 | 106 | 36.6 | 92 | 44.0 | 2.830 | 0.096 |
Females are indecent until they are circumcised | 361 | 72.3 | 202 | 69.7 | 159 | 76.1 | 2.503 | 0.128 |
Circumcised females are happier in their marital lives | 280 | 56.2 | 148 | 51.0 | 132 | 63.5 | 7.600 | 0.006 |
Females cannot please their husbands if uncircumcised | 315 | 63.3 | 171 | 59.0 | 144 | 69.2 | 5.491 | 0.024 |
FMG/C enhances females’ personal hygiene | 276 | 55.4 | 157 | 54.1 | 119 | 57.2 | 0.463 | 0.523 |
FMG/C preserves females’ virginity | 283 | 56.8 | 157 | 54.1 | 126 | 60.6 | 2.047 | 0.169 |
Circumcised females are more respected by community | 338 | 67.7 | 192 | 66.2 | 146 | 69.9 | 0.740 | 0.438 |
My future daughters should be circumcised | 296 | 59.3 | 163 | 56.2 | 133 | 63.3 | 2.778 | 0.098 |