Togo - 28 Too Many (part of Orchid Project)

Key Findings

The prevalence of FGM in women aged 15–49 is 3.1%.*

94.5% of women believe that FGM should be stopped.

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

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Geography

The region with the highest prevalence is Centrale, at 13.5%; the lowest is Maritime, in the south, at 0.2%

Age

FGM is most commonly performed on girls between 4 and 14 years of age

Type

‘Cut, flesh removed’ is the most common type of FGM practised

Agent

Almost all FGM is carried out by traditional practitioners

Development Indicators

Population

8,266,868 (as at 11 March 2020), with a 2.56% growth rate (2020 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

52 deaths per 1,000 live births (2015)

Maternal Mortality Rate

368 deaths per 100,000 live births (2015)

Literacy

63.7% of the total population aged 15 and over can read/write

Prevalence of FGM

The regions in Togo with the highest FGM prevalence are Centrale (13.5% of women aged 15–49) and Savanes (7.6%). The prevalence in Kara is 2.5%, and in Lomé, Golfe Urbaine, Maritime and Plateaux it is less than 2%. Women aged 15–49 who live in rural areas are slightly more likely (3.6%) to undergo FGM than those who live in urban areas (2.5%).

FGM is usually performed on girls aged 4–14; according to the MICS, it is also performed on infants, women who are about to get married, and sometimes on women who are pregnant with their first child or who have just given birth.

FGM prevalence is less than 6% across most ethnic groups in Togo. The most recent data also show a prevalence of 12.1% among ‘Autres togolais’ and 6.8% among ‘Autres nationalités’.

73% of women aged 15–49 have heard of FGM; of these, 94.5% believe that it should be stopped. Support for FGM abandonment increases slightly among women whose mothers are more educated and who are in the higher wealth quintiles.

The most recent MICS survey does not give FGM prevalence according to religion. The DHS 2015, however, suggests that Muslim women aged 15–49 are far more likely to undergo FGM (22%) than women of other religions, among all of whom the prevalence of FGM is less than 2%.

Trends in FGM Prevalence

Breaking down the most recent data by age group shows that the prevalence for women aged 45–49 is 5.4%, while for the youngest age group this has fallen to 1.4%.

Despite the fact that a small proportion of women may be cut after the age of 15, the data suggests a trend towards lower prevalence among younger women.

FGM Legislation in Togo

The main law relating to FGM in Togo is Law No. 98-016, dated 17 November 1998, on the prohibition of female genital mutilation. Law No. 2015-010, the new Penal Code of Togo, dated 24 November 2015, also criminalises the practice of FGM. However, there is a lack of publicly available information on any prosecutions to date; law enforcement appears to be weak and there is an absence of reporting and recording of FGM cases.

See Togo: The Law and FGM for more details.

For the French translation, see Togo: La Loi et Les MGF.