An Evaluation of the Impact of Media Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Rural Communities of Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of media campaign against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the rural areas of Enugu State. One hundred and sixty three women attending the antenatal clinics in six rural communities and twenty-four heads of Women groups were selected as sample for this cross-sectional survey. Structured questionnaire and interview were used to collect data while analysis of the data was done with SPSS version 20.0. The results reveal among others that the media campaign against FGM in Enugu state is ineffective. It further reveals that cultural values (51%), poor network reception (23%), epileptic power supply (18%), inaccessible media, and the nature of the content of the campaign are responsible for the ineffectiveness. Given the findings, the researchers recommends the modernization of the media and the contents of its FGM campaign for rural reach/accessibility, the development of pro-Igbo cultural programmes against FGM practice, and the use of visual methods to establish/prove the relationship between FGM, infections/diseases and maternal deaths. Further empirical research on FGM – maternal health care in Enugu State is recommended.