Somalia has the highest global prevalence (98%) of female circumcision (FC), and, despite a long history of abandonment efforts, it is not clear as to whether or not these programmes have changed people’s positive attitudes toward the practice. Against this background, this paper explores the attitudes of Somalis living in Hargeisa and Galkayo districts to the practice of FC. Methods. A purposive sampling of 24 Somalis, including activists and practitioners, men and women, was conducted in Somalia. Unstructured interviews were employed to explore the participants' knowledge of FC, their attitudes toward the continuation/discontinuation of the practice, and the type they want to continue or not to continue. Result. The findings of this qualitative study indicate that there is a strong resistance towards the abandonment of the practice in Somalia. The support for the continuation of Sunna circumcision is widespread, while there is a quite large rejection of Pharaonic circumcision. Conclusion. Therefore, since the “zero tolerance policy” has failed to change people’s support for the continuation of the practice in Somalia, programmes that promote the pinch of the clitoral skin and verbal alteration of status, with the goal of leading to total abandonment of FC, should be considered for the Somali context. 1. Background The traditional practice involving the removal or injury of female external genitals, namely, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), or female circumcision (FC), which is the term we use in this paper and is a literal translation from the Somali language (gudniinka dumarka), has long survived in Africa in the name of tradition though in recent decades the practice has received worldwide attention, with its abolishment determined by a broad international consensus [1]. Accordingly, ever more countries have incorporated the penalty against performing FC in their constitutions, and more communities and civil societies have increasingly turned their advocacy towards abolishing FC. Nevertheless, the goal remains far from being realized. With steady progress in some countries, the FC operations continue unabated in many practicing countries, thus exacerbating the already pervasive suffering for millions of women living in resource-poor countries [2]. Therefore, identifying the factors that impede the cessation of the practice may enable us to advance our understanding of the practice and the subsequent adoption of a culturally acceptable strategy towards its abandonment. Female circumcision is most prevalent in 28 African countries, but is
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