Knowledge of Female Genital Cutting among health and social care professionals in Francophone Belgium: A cross-sectional survey

Background The provision of optimal, equitable and gender-sensitive health care to women and girls with FGM/C is challenging. Research indicates that health professionals in receiving countries lack knowledge, confidence and competence in managing FGM/C. In order to develop policies that are suitable to the wide heterogeneity of women from FGM/C practising groups, it is paramount to identify what appropriate care might consist of and what are the knowledge gaps of health and social-care providers. No previous research has specifically addressed the knowledge and practices of health professionals in Francophone Belgium and the bi-lingual Brussels region. Methods An anonymous questionnaire with 24 questions was developed targeting healthcare and social-care professionals. The questionnaire was distributed between 6 May and 30 August 2021via professional organisations for midwifery, social work, GPs, infectious disease specialists, internal medicine, paediatricians and gynaecologists. The results are presented as frequencies, differences in proportions between groups were tested with Pearson’s Chi-square, when applicable. Correlations were tested by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The threshold of statistical significance is 5%. Results 460 individuals filled in the questionnaire of which 42% were medical doctors, 6% nurses, 27% midwives and 25% non-medical professionals (social workers and psychologists). 55% of non-medical professionals had provided support for women with FGM/C. Almost 40% of health professionals knew that there were 4 types of FGM and were able to correctly describe them, 15% were unable to correctly describe any of the 4 types. Those who had already provided care for FGM/C were more numerous to know that there were 4 types (52%). Two health professionals had received requests to perform FGM/C. Twenty-seven midwives and medical doctors had received requests for re-infibulation. Conclusion Growing numbers of health and social care professionals are providing care for women with FGM/C. However, knowledge of FGM/C is suboptimal. Continuous professional training is crucial. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The study was funded by GENDERNET Plus in collaboration with partners at the University of Montreal in Canada, at Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University in France and the Department of women’s and Children’s Health, University of Upsala in Sweden. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Not Applicable The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The Erasme-ULB university clinic ethics committee waived the need for ethical approval for the study on the 8 March 2021 (Reference P2021/190). All research methods and data management were carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the European Commission for ethical research. Informed consent was obtained from all study participants and personal identifiers are kept anonymous to ensure the confidentiality and privacy in compliance with EU ethics guidelines. All data are stored in a password protected data base by Isabelle Godin. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Not Applicable I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Not Applicable I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Not Applicable Some data variable have been uploaded as supporting information. All other data are available upon request from isabelle.godin{at}ulb.be