A Content Analysis Study Describing Information Regarding Female Genital Mutilation Present in US Medical Textbooks

This study examines the depth of information regarding Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)/Female Cutting (FC) present in US medical textbooks. According to Klein et al. (2018) [1], despite substantial attention regarding the effects of FGM, this practice is still ongoing all over the world. Healthcare providers are very important actors who need to understand FGM in order to provide care to girls and women subjected to it, but the small amount of existing work in this area shows a low level of knowledge and training about FGM/FC among U.S. physicians. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first published the estimated number of girls at risk of FGM/FC in the U.S. to be about 168,000 in 1997; that number had increased to 513,000 girls in the US by 2012 (according to Goldberg et al.) In this study, a small sample of medical textbooks were analyzed for the degree to which the textbooks include information regarding FGM/FC. The results of this study show that US medical textbooks do not include information regarding FGM/FC, suggesting that most medical providers don’t have knowledge and training about FGM/FC. The inadequate information on FGM/FC in medical textbooks reflects a culturally biased lack of recognition of the number of girls and women affected in the US. This maintains an ongoing pattern of silence that reinforces gender inequality. Considering the inadequate information covered in US medical textbooks on FGM/FC, and the concordant lack of provider training to provide advice and care to affected girls and women, incorrect and missed diagnoses may lead to harm to victims of FGM/FC. Providers would be better equipped to care for women and girls if their medical training included information regarding FGM/FC.