Niger

The region in Niger with the highest prevalence is Tillaberi (9.2% of women aged 15–49).  Tillaberi is situated in the south-west of the country.  All other regions have a prevalence lower than 2%.  Women aged 15–49 who live in rural areas are more likely to undergo FGM/C (2.1%) than those who live in urban areas (1.2%).  Prevalence in the capital city of Niamey is 1.8%.

85.1% of women and 85.7% of men aged 15–49 do not believe that FGM/C is a requirement of their religion.

Between 2006 and 2012, survey data suggests that the overall prevalence for women aged 15–49 fell from 2.2% to 2%, however this drop is not statistically significant.  One should therefore assume that the prevalence remained constant at around 2%.  In 2006, 88.9% of women and 86.2% of men aged 15–49 who have heard of FGM/C stated that they believed FGM/C should be stopped; in 2012, those figures were 82.4% and 90.6% respectively.

Please note that, due to the low prevalence of FGM in Niger, very few surveyed women have been cut. For this reason, detailed breakdowns by region, age, education, etc., should be treated with caution.