Togo

The regions in Togo with the highest FGM/C 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/C than those who live in urban areas (2.5%).

FGM/C 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/C 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/C; of these, 94.5% believe that it should be stopped. Support for FGM/C 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/C 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/C is less than 2%.

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