Lived experiences and opinions of women of sub-Saharan origin on female genital mutilation: A phenomenological study

Aims and objectives: This study aimed to describe and understand the lived experi-ences and opinions of sub-Saharan women living in Spain in relation to female genital mutilation.Background: Female genital mutilation is a bloody procedure with serious conse-quences for the health of women and girls. Understanding mutilated women's lived experiences plays a crucial role in the management of health consequences and could help healthcare professionals to provide assistance to these women.Design: A descriptive phenomenological study was carried out. The COREQ checklist was followed as guidance to write the manuscript.Methods: A total of 12 in-depth interviews were conducted. Interviews were re-corded, transcribed and analysed using ATLAS.ti 9.0.Results: Two themes with four subthemes were identified from the data analysis: 1) ‘The traumatic experience of female circumcision’ with the subthemes ‘Female muti-lation is a physical and psychological torture procedure’ and ‘recognising and coping with negative emotions’; 2) ‘The fight for the eradication of female genital mutilation’ which contains the subthemes ‘the need for a real sociocultural change at the origin’ and ‘“I want to be the last”: Personal development leads to sociocultural change’.Conclusions: Female genital mutilation was experienced by women as a very aggres-sive and traumatic event. It causes considerable negative emotions that last over time. Although there is a tendency to reject the practice, in women's countries of origin, there is social pressure for girls to be mutilated.This study was carried out within the framework of the research project 'Socio- healthcare for irregular migrants arriving by sea: a gender, trafficking and vulnerabiligy approach (FEDER-UAL2020- CTS- D2031) funded by Junta de Andalucía and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Jaén / CBUA. Grant Numbers: FEDER-UAL2020-CTS- D203