Annex 1.

Details of search strategy (in French and English)

Database	Search equation
1. PubMed	(“Circumcision, Female”[Mesh] OR “Female Circumcisions”[tiab] OR “Female Circumcision”[tiab] OR “Infibulation”[tiab] OR “Infibulations”[tiab] OR “Clitoridectomy”[tiab] OR “Clitoridectomies”[tiab] OR “Clitorectomy”[tiab] OR “Clitorectomies”[tiab] OR “Female Genital Cutting”[tiab] OR “Female Genital Mutilation”[tiab] OR “Female Genital Mutilations”[tiab]) AND (“Africa”[Mesh] OR "Africa*"[tiab] OR “Algeria”[tiab] OR “Egypt”[tiab] OR “Libya”[tiab] OR “Morocco”[tiab] OR “Tunisia”[tiab] OR “Cameroon”[tiab] OR “Central African Republic”[tiab] OR “Chad”[tiab] OR “Congo”[tiab] OR “Democratic Republic of the Congo”[tiab] OR “Equatorial Guinea”[tiab] OR “Gabon”[tiab] OR “Burundi”[tiab] OR “Djibouti”[tiab] OR “Eritrea”[tiab] OR “Ethiopia”[tiab] OR “Kenya”[tiab] OR “Rwanda”[tiab] OR “Somalia”[tiab] OR “Sudan”[tiab] OR “Tanzania”[tiab] OR “Uganda”[tiab] OR “Angola”[tiab] OR “Botswana”[tiab] OR “Lesotho”[tiab] OR “Malawi”[tiab] OR “Mozambique”[tiab] OR “Namibia”[tiab] OR “South Africa”[tiab] OR “Swaziland”[tiab] OR “Zambia”[tiab] OR “Zimbabwe”[tiab] OR “Benin”[tiab] OR “Burkina Faso”[tiab] OR “Cape Verde”[tiab] OR “Cote d'Ivoire”[tiab] OR “Gambia”[tiab] OR “Ghana”[tiab] OR “Guinea”[tiab] OR “Guinea-Bissau”[tiab] OR “Liberia”[tiab] OR “Mali”[tiab] OR “Mauritania”[tiab] OR “Niger”[tiab] OR “Nigeria”[tiab] OR “Senegal”[tiab] OR “Sierra Leone”[tiab] OR “Togo”[tiab])
2. Embase	(‘female circumcision’/exp OR "Female Circumcisions":ti:ab OR "Female Circumcision":ti:ab OR "Infibulation":ti:ab OR "Infibulations":ti:ab OR "Clitoridectomy":ti:ab OR "Clitoridectomies":ti:ab OR “Clitorectomy”:ti:ab OR “Clitorectomies”:ti:ab OR “Female Genital Cutting”:ti:ab OR “Female Genital Mutilation”:ti:ab OR “Female Genital Mutilations”:ti:ab) AND (“Africa”/exp OR Africa*:ti:ab OR “Algeria”:ti:ab OR “Egypt”:ti:ab OR “Libya”:ti:ab OR “Morocco”:ti:ab OR “Tunisia”:ti:ab OR “Cameroon”:ti:ab OR “Central African Republic”:ti:ab OR “Chad”:ti:ab OR “Congo”:ti:ab OR “Democratic Republic of the Congo”:ti:ab OR “Equatorial Guinea”:ti:ab OR “Gabon”:ti:ab OR “Burundi”:ti:ab OR “Djibouti”:ti:ab OR “Eritrea”:ti:ab OR “Ethiopia”:ti:ab OR “Kenya”:ti:ab OR “Rwanda”:ti:ab OR “Somalia”:ti:ab OR “Sudan”:ti:ab OR “Tanzania”:ti:ab OR “Uganda”:ti:ab OR “Angola”:ti:ab OR “Botswana”:ti:ab OR “Lesotho”:ti:ab OR “Malawi”:ti:ab OR “Mozambique”:ti:ab OR “Namibia”:ti:ab OR “South Africa”:ti:ab OR “Swaziland”:ti:ab OR “Zambia”:ti:ab OR “Zimbabwe”:ti:ab OR “Benin”:ti:ab OR “Burkina Faso”:ti:ab OR “Cape Verde”:ti:ab OR “Cote d Ivoire”:ti:ab OR “Gambia”:ti:ab OR “Ghana”:ti:ab OR “Guinea”:ti:ab OR “Guinea-Bissau”:ti:ab OR “Liberia”:ti:ab OR “Mali”:ti:ab OR “Mauritania”:ti:ab OR “Niger”:ti:ab OR “Nigeria”:ti:ab OR “Senegal”:ti:ab OR “Sierra Leone”:ti:ab OR “Togo”:ti:ab)
3. CINAHL	((MH “Circumcision, Female”) OR TI (“Female Circumcisions” OR “Female Circumcision” OR “Infibulation” OR “Infibulations” OR “Clitoridectomy” OR “Clitoridectomies” OR “Clitorectomy” OR “Clitorectomies” OR “Female Genital Cutting” OR “Female Genital Mutilation” OR “Female Genital Mutilations”) OR AB (“Female Circumcisions” OR “Female Circumcision” OR “Infibulation” OR “Infibulations” OR “Clitoridectomy” OR “Clitoridectomies” OR “Clitorectomy” OR “Clitorectomies” OR “Female Genital Cutting” OR “Female Genital Mutilation” OR “Female Genital Mutilations”)) AND (MH "Africa+") OR TI ( Africa* OR Algeria OR Egypt OR Libya OR Morocco OR Tunisia OR Cameroon OR “Central African Republic” OR Chad OR Congo OR “Democratic Republic of the Congo” OR “Equatorial Guinea” OR Gabon OR Burundi OR Djibouti OR Eritrea OR Ethiopia OR Kenya OR Rwanda OR Somalia OR Sudan OR Tanzania OR Uganda OR Angola OR Botswana OR Lesotho OR Malawi OR Mozambique OR Namibia OR “South Africa” OR Swaziland OR Zambia OR Zimbabwe OR Benin OR “Burkina Faso” OR “Cape Verde” OR “Cote d'Ivoire” OR Gambia OR Ghana OR Guinea OR “Guinea-Bissau” OR Liberia OR Mali OR Mauritania OR Niger OR Nigeria OR Senegal OR “Sierra Leone” OR Togo) OR AB ( Africa* Algeria OR Egypt OR Libya OR Morocco OR Tunisia OR Cameroon OR “Central African Republic” OR Chad OR Congo OR “Democratic Republic of the Congo” OR “Equatorial Guinea” OR Gabon OR Burundi OR Djibouti OR Eritrea OR Ethiopia OR Kenya OR Rwanda OR Somalia OR Sudan OR Tanzania OR Uganda OR Angola OR Botswana OR Lesotho OR Malawi OR Mozambique OR Namibia OR “South Africa” OR Swaziland OR Zambia OR Zimbabwe OR Benin OR “Burkina Faso” OR “Cape Verde” OR “Cote d'Ivoire” OR Gambia OR Ghana OR Guinea OR “Guinea-Bissau” OR Liberia OR Mali OR Mauritania OR Niger OR Nigeria OR Senegal OR “Sierra Leone” OR Togo)
4. BDSP	(“Mutilation sexuelle” OU Excision OU Infibulation OU “Ablation clitoris” OU “Circoncision féminine” OU Clitorectomie OU Excision OU “Mutilation génitale féminine” OU MGF) ET (Afrique OU africain OU africaine OU africains OU africaines OU Angola OU Bénin OU Botswana OU Burkina Faso OU Burundi OU Cameroun OU Canaries OU Cap Vert OU Centrafrique OU Comores OU Congo OU “Côte d'Ivoire” OU Djibouti OU Egypte OU Erythrée OU Ethiopie OU Gabon OU Gambie OU Ghana OU Guinée OU Ile Maurice OU Kenya OU Lesotho OU Libéria OU Madagascar OU Maghreb OU Malawi OU Mali OU Maurice OU Mozambique OU Namibie OU Niger OU Nigeria OU “Océan Indien” OU Ouganda OU Rwanda OU “Sahara espagnol” OU Sénégal OU Seychelles OU Sierra Leone OU Somalie OU Soudan OU Swaziland OU Tanzanie OU Tchad OU Togo OU Zaïre OU Zambie OU Zimbabwe)
5. Web of Science, PsycINFO, FRANCIS, Sociological abstracts	(“Female Circumcisions” OR “Female Circumcision” OR “Infibulation” OR “Infibulations” OR “Clitoridectomy” OR “Clitoridectomies” OR “Clitorectomy” OR “Clitorectomies” OR “Female Genital Cutting” OR “Female Genital Mutilation” OR “Female Genital Mutilations”) AND (Africa* OR Algeria OR Egypt OR Libya OR Morocco OR Tunisia OR Cameroon OR “Central African Republic” OR Chad OR Congo OR “Democratic Republic of the Congo” OR “Equatorial Guinea” OR Gabon OR Burundi OR Djibouti OR Eritrea OR Ethiopia OR Kenya OR Rwanda OR Somalia OR Sudan OR Tanzania OR Uganda OR Angola OR Botswana OR Lesotho OR Malawi OR Mozambique OR Namibia OR “South Africa” OR Swaziland OR Zambia OR Zimbabwe OR Benin OR “Burkina Faso” OR “Cape Verde” OR “Cote d'Ivoire” OR Gambia OR Ghana OR Guinea OR “Guinea-Bissau” OR Liberia OR Mali OR Mauritania OR Niger OR Nigeria OR Senegal OR “Sierra Leone” OR Togo)
6. WHOLIS, RERO, SAPHIR	Circumcision, female, Africa, African, Mutilation sexuelle, Afrique

[MeSH]=MeSH Term

[tiab]=Search in title (ti) and abstract (abstract)

/exp = Emtree term

:ti:ab=Search in title (ti) and abstract (abstract)

MH=Subject heading

TI, AB=Search in title, abstract