Physical and Mental Health Implications of Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) persists in parts of Kenya, including among Maasai communities in Kajiado County, despite decades of legal prohibition and community-based intervention. Its cultural drivers have been extensively documented, but the physical and mental health consequences borne by affected women and girls are less often synthesised for the community social workers who are frequently their first point of professional contact. This review draws together evidence from two large systematic reviews and meta-analyses, together encompassing up to 116 primary studies and more than 480,000 women and girls, alongside Kenya-specific prevalence and intervention literature, to characterise FGM's obstetric, gynaecological, urological, sexual, and mental health sequelae. Pooled estimates show FGM is significantly associated with prolonged labour, perineal tears, episiotomy, postpartum haemorrhage, urinary tract infection, dyspareunia, and sexual dysfunction, while mental health evidence, though consistently indicating elevated post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety, remains limited by small and heterogeneous samples. The review discusses implications for community social work practice, including safeguarding, trauma-informed support, and referral pathways linked to Kenya's Alternative Rite of Passage programmes, and identifies Maasai-specific health-outcome research as a priority gap.