FGM Monthly Article – July 2021

July 26, 2021

GEMA Women Demand Outlawing of ‘Gwata Ndai’ Sect

After Forced Circumcision of Murang’a Woman

By John Wanjohi  7/7/2021 Mwakilishi.com 

The Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association (GEMA) Women Council of Elders has called for action over the rising cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Mount Kenya region.

The council, in a petition to Interior CS Fred Matiang’i, asked the government to deregister and outlaw a traditional group dubbed Gwata Ndai for promoting gender-based violence practices such as female circumcision within the family setups.

“We call upon all women and girls to resist these backward practices that hinder human development. All women including faith-based, business and civic groups must stand up and sacrifice to protect fellow women, daughters, and mothers from abuse and human rights violations,” the lobby group said.

“We call upon women at the grassroots to strongly reject FGM, seek help when they see signs of GBV and FGM in the home, call for help, and run away.”

Led by Kabura Kabea, June Waweru, and Hellen Kurutu the council further urged the judiciary to ensure perpetrators of such offenses are thoroughly punished.

The lobby strongly condemned an incident where a woman in Kandara, Murang’a County was forced to undergo the cut by her husband.

30-year-old Hellen Wangui last week painfully narrated how her husband colluded with his ‘friends’ to circumcise her by force.

Wangui said her husband of 12 years joined a secret Kikuyu sect a few months ago and was asked to perform a ritual where he slaughtered a sheep in the company of other members, after which he demanded that she and her two young daughters undergo female circumcision as the faith does not allow men to live with uncircumcised women in the same house.

Her husband ambushed her on the night of June 9th in the company of 30 other men where they stripped her naked and cut off her private parts in the cruelest way.

“He came with other men who caught me by the neck, stripped me then began pricking me with needles on my private parts. They used their nails, a knife to cut off my private parts,” Wangui recounted.

“They said they want to circumcise me so that I can become a ‘complete woman’ as per their practices.”

The mother of two sought treatment at Murang’a Level 5 Hospital after sustaining serious injuries on her genitals.