Migration from countries with high female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) prevalence to Europe has increased attention to health services needs and support for affected women. We explored literature on this foregrounding affected women’s voices, including 37 sources of 11,662 identified. Our findings are synthesised in three themes: medical ‘othering,’ challenged communication, and migration implications. Migrant women affected by FGM/C often struggled navigating health systems that were inflexible to their needs, with health providers often highlighting cultural differences instead of focusing on their health needs in potentially traumatic ways. Women also described feeling torn between conflicting FGM/C cultural norms, their health, and care practices in Europe.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

N/A

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

IRB not required.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

↵§ Shared first authorship.

Email SH: sahassan089gmail.com, MDLT: maxlopeznus.edu.sg, AH: alya.howardstudent.manchester.ac.uk, CN: Charnele.Nunesalumni.lshtm.ac.uk, MM: Manar.Marzouk1lshtm.ac.uk, LST: st.lamu.nus.edu, OA: adenekan.miladegmail.com, NH: natasha.howardnus.edu.sg

↵* NUS FGM/C study team

Led by Associate Professor Natasha HOWARD, the FGM/C study team includes in alphabetical order: Oluwafunmilade ADENEKAN, Zamzam ALI, Mervat ALHAFFAR, Mohamad AL-TWAISH, Zeenathnisa Mougammadou ARIBOU, Aysha FARWIN, Sameera HASSAN, Alya HOWARD, Eiman HUSSEIN, Beth JACOB-CHOW, LAM Sze Tung, Max D LÓPEZ TOLEDANO, Manar MARZOUK, MU Rong, Michiko NAGASHIMA-HAYASHI, Smeetha NAIR, Charnele NUNES, Maryam OMAR, Nursarah Bte SUPRAT, and Scholar ZAKAYO.

All data is available online.

Original literature sources are all available online.