title: The relation of female circumcision to sexual behavior in Kenya and Nigeria.
abstract: One of the reasons for the perpetuation of female circumcision is that it controls female sexuality. In this study, the authors examined the relationship between female circumcision and the sexual behavior of women in Kenya and Nigeria. Data on women who were aware of circumcision and were circumcised were extracted from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2008-09 as well as the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey of 2008. The sample size was 7,344 for Kenya and 16,294 for Nigeria. The outcome variables were age at first intercourse and total lifetime number of sexual partners. The study hypothesis was that women who were circumcised were less likely to have initiated sex early and to have only one sex partner. Cox proportional hazards regression and Poisson regression were used to examine the relations of female circumcision and other selected variables to sexual behavior. No association was observed between female circumcision and the outcomes for sexual behavior of women in Kenya and Nigeria. The argument of sexual chastity is insufficient to sustain the perpetuation of female circumcision.
authors.affiliation: a Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa.
authors.forename: Sibonginkosi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mpofu
authors.affiliation: a Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa.
authors.forename: Clifford
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Odimegwu
authors.affiliation: a Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Wet
authors.affiliation: a Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa.|b Department of Demography and Social Statistics , Obafemi Awolowo University , Ile Ife , Nigeria.
authors.forename: Sunday
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adedini
authors.affiliation: a Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa.|c Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine , University of Ibadan , Ibadan , Nigeria.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Akinyemi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019093:Circumcision, Female; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009549:Nigeria; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Demographic factors; Kenya; Nigeria; female circumcision; female genital cutting; mutilation; sexual behavior