RESUMO
PIP: A study of 135 nurses' attitudes toward female circumcison was conducted at the Shatby maternity hospital, Dar el Welada, and other hospitals. Only 6.7% of all nurses could identify the 3 types of female circumcison: 20% knew the sunna type; 5.2% knew the pharaonic type; and 25.1% knew clidorectomy. 43% were unable to identify any type. The disadvantages of female circumcision mentioned by the nurses were decrease of libido (21.5%), hemorrhage (20.7%), and disfigurement (1.5%). 76.4% did not know whether female circumcision was legal in Egypt. 28.1% believed the operation to be advantageous either for cleanliness (10.3%), to decrease libido and protect the girl against extramarital sex (8.9%), and for both reasons (8.9%). One third of the nurses said they would circumcise their own daughters. 20% felt that they would do so for esthetic reasons; 10.4% to decrease sexual desire; and 2.2% had religious reasons. 64.4% stated that female circumcison had no religious basis; 13.3% said that it had a religious basis but did not know the source. Younger nurses (under age 25) were less inclined to circumcise their daughters (19.5%), compared to those over age 30 (49.6%). Nurses with less than 5 years experience in maternity practice were more reluctant to circumcise their daughters (22.7%) than those with 10 years or more in the field (45.7%).^ieng
