The war on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the North Rift received a big boost after a group of circumcisers from the Marakwet community came out and discarded the retrogressive practice.

Instead, the circumcisers have now pledged to be at the forefront of fighting the outdated rite.

This turning point was achieved through a series of trainings and empowerment of the elderly women about the dangers of the practice, carried out by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Brighter Society Initiative.

During a public forum held at Kapchebau in Marakwet East, many of the women regretted subjecting women and girls to the retrogressive cultural practice and pledged to be at the forefront in empowering the community to reject it.

Veronicah Suter and Caroline Kisang, who are now anti-FGM crusaders, admitted the devastating effects of FGM on the girl-child, with some of them bleeding to death in the process.

“We underwent the rite ourselves and we subjected the same to other women and girls because we had not been empowered on its harmful effects. We have now seen the light and will be at the forefront in assisting the authorities to fight the practice,” said Suter.

They called on parents in the area to discard retrogressive cultural practices and instead focus on ensuring that their children get quality education.

Kisang said women risk contracting infections such as HIV/Aids as the practice is carried out in unhygienic conditions.

Involving leaders

“Many women who underwent FGM have also died as a result of difficulties while giving birth. Tumekataa ukeketaji. Tunasema tuwache watoto waende shuleni. (We are saying no to FGM. We are now saying, let the children go to school),” said Kisang.

According to Brighter Society Initiative Chief Executive Officer Sadia Hussein, the organisation decided to reach out to circumcisers as they are well-known in the community and better understand the effects of FGM.

“We are aiming at empowering them to be responsible parents as they better understand the pain and ensure girls are free from FGM. We are saying education, not mutilation,” said Hussein, adding that the practice was more prevalent in Marakwet East.

The initiative has also seen circumcisers put down their tools of trade in the campaign dubbed ‘Komesha FGM Sasa’.

“We will continue until we have zero cases of FGM in the region. We are also involving leaders to ensure there is political goodwill,” said Hussein, who is also a survivor of FGM.

Elgeyo Marakwet Deputy Governor Prof Grace Cheserek, who also attended the forum, regretted that harmful cultural practices had contributed to the girl-child lagging behind in education compared to their male counterparts in the region.

Right path

The DG pledged that the county government will continue to work with other partners in empowering chiefs and mothers so that they become role models in the community and ensure children’s rights are not violated, and get a quality education.

“Our children are our future. Parents should take their responsibilities seriously and show their children their right path for them to be useful members of society in the future,” added the DG.

According to a recent survey by Women Rights Institute for Peace (WRIP), an NGO based in the North Rift, more than 300 girls underwent FGM in the region during the last December holidays, with Tiaty leading with more than 100 girls facing the knife.

“A worrying trend has also emerged in the area where married women are being forced to undergo the practice against their wishes,” said WRIP Executive Director Mariam Suleiman.

She said that this has also been reported in some parts of Elgeyo Marakwet County, where married women are threatened with divorce by their husbands if they don’t accede to the demands of the elderly relatives in the community to undergo the rite.

“In some communities, young men are intimidated and threatened by elders and sometimes parents who insist on FGM on their daughters-in-law before distributing inheritance like land to their sons,” explained Ms Suleiman.

In some areas like Tiaty, she said, the community has changed the circumcision period from December to August to avoid the public, government and media focus that comes at the end of the year.

The situation has been aggravated by some government officials, including chiefs, their assistants and other government officials’ ignorance of the existing legal instruments to address the matter.