Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone: Forms, Reliability of Reported Status, and Accuracy of Related Demographic and Health Survey Questions

Table 1

WHO typology, 2007.

Type I: partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce (clitoridectomy).
When it is important to distinguish between the major variations of type I mutilation, the following subdivisions are proposed:
type Ia: removal of the clitoral hood or prepuce only;
type Ib: removal of the clitoris with the prepuce.
Type II: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (excision).
When it is important to distinguish between the major variations that have been documented, the following subdivisions are proposed:
type IIa: removal of the labia minora only;
type IIb: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora;
type IIc: partial or total removal of the clitoris, the labia minora, and the labia majora.
Note also that, in French, the term “excision" is often used as a general term covering all types of female genital mutilation.
Type III: narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the
labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris (infibulation).
When it is important to distinguish between variations in infibulations, the following subdivisions are proposed:
type IIIa: removal and apposition of the labia minora;
type IIIb: removal and apposition of the labia majora.
Type IV: unclassified: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for nonmedical purposes, for example, pricking, piercing,
incising, scraping, and cauterization.

Reproduced with permission from World Health Organization. Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement (UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNHCHR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, and WHO); 2008.