Introduction: Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is a harmful traditional practice detrimental tornthe sexual and reproductive health of girls/women which is a common practice in mostrndeveloping countries of the world. It is a very common practice in Ethiopia, particularly inrnSomali region; it is commonly being practiced since generations and it seems to be almostrnuniversal in the region. Following this ,the study was aimed to assess the prevalence andrnfactors associated with female genital cutting. rnObjective: To assess prevalence and associated factors with FGC in Jigjiga district.rnMethods: School based cross-sectional mixed method combining both quantitative and rnqualitative research method was conducted among 679 randomly selected young adult femalernstudents from high school and college in Jigjiga district from Feb-mar2012. For thernquantitative study, a multistage sampling technique was employed to select study subjectsrnand a pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The qualitative data wererncollected using FGDs and four FGD discussions were conducted using non directive openrnended questions. Epi Info version3.5.3 was used for data entry and SPSS versions17 for datarnanalysis. Open Code was used to analyze the qualitative data. rnResults: This study revealed that the prevalence of FGC among the respondents and theirrnyoungest sister were 82.6% and 81.1% respectively. The dominant form of cutting was TypernI, 265(49.3%) in the study area. Majority of girls, 575 (88.3%) and 407(62.7%) had goodrnknowledge towards the bad effect of FGC and had positive attitude towards FGCrndiscontinuation respectively. Religion(AOR=3.7;95%CI:1.1-12), residencern(AOR=4;95%CI=2.4-6.8), respondentsâ€Ÿ educational level (AOR=0.5; 95%CI:0.3-0.8),rnmaternal education (AOR=2.4;95%CI:1.3-4.3), attitude (AOR=0.5;95%CI:0.3-0.9)andrnreligious requirement (AOR=1.7;95%CI=1.07-2.8) were the most significant predictors ofrnFGC. The possible reasons for FGC practice were to keep virginity, to improve socialrnacceptance, to have better marriage prospects, religious approval, and to have hygiene. rnConclusion and recommendation: Despite girlâ€Ÿs knowledge and attitude towards the badrneffect of FGC, the prevalence of FGC was still high. The direct and indirect effect of FGC onrnviolation human rights of girls/women may seriously affect the effort made towardsrnrealization of empowering women and gender equity. There should be a concerted effort rnamong women, men, religious leader and other concerned bodies in understanding and rnclarification of the wrong attachment between the practice and religion through behaviouralrnchange communication and advocacy at all levels.