FGM Monthly Article – December 2021
Paradox of Rogue Medics Promoting Outlawed FGM in Kisii, Kenya, Done at Night, in Health Centers The Star 12/24/21Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya Kisii is one of the counties with well-equipped and staffed healthcare facilities. But it is in these facilities where the practice is flourishing. One doctor who asked to remain anonymous said what the government has succeeded in doing is outlawing the practice but not ending it. For many children, one’s birthday is something to look forward to. Not for Brenda Kerubo (not her real name). Kerubo is turning 10 next week but she’s dreading that moment. Her mother has arranged to take her to their rural home to undergo the female cut. The two will travel to their village in Bobasi constituency where the ritual will be conducted in the dead of night. Here, though outlawed, villagers have agreed to hide the fact that female genital mutilation still takes place. Kerubo’s mother says she will invite a female nurse friend to cut her daughter. “I have done it to all my other three daughters already. I don’t see any wrong in having her face the cut as I did myself,” the mother of four told the Star. Isolated as this case may appear, Kerubo’s family is part of a huge segment of the population in Kisii that has refused the let go of the rite. Activists say the matter is made worse by chiefs and their assistants failing to report the perpetrators to the police. “This constitutes a serious breach of the mandate the government has given them,” says Young Women Democrats chairperson Esnas Nyaramba. “Without proper coordination between these administrators and the police, such vices will not just be wished away.” Parents who want their children to undergo the rite in health facilities, the doctor said, feel it is hygienic and safer. They also feel the hospital can quickly manage any complication. Another part of the problem is the fact that health practitioners have replaced the old women who used to do the cut. “There is already evidence of some nurses conducting the rite at night in healthcare centers tucked in the villages. Some of these health facilities are run by the government,” Nyaramba said. She said there’s evidence the practice is on the decline in other communities, but Kisii remains at the top of the chart. The irony is a large percentage of the...
Read MoreFGM Monthly Article – November 2021
Ekiti Empowers 180 Female Genital Circumcisers with N42.5m This DayBy Victor Ogunje As part of the ways to keep female children safe and sound, the Government of Ekiti State (Nigeria), has empowered 180 repentant practitioners of female circumcision with N42.5 million, which was targeted at discouraging Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the state. The beneficiaries of the grants publicly handed over their trade tools to the First Lady, Ekiti State, at the ‘Drop the Blade Initiative,’ which took place in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday. Addressing the beneficiaries on Saturday, the first lady said that the grant was to discourage the former practitioners from returning to the harmful practice having denounced the trade. She reiterated the state government’s zero tolerance for gender-based violence and female genital mutilation. She said the government would not hesitate to clamp down on people who still practiced the trade that is seen as violence against girls. She said a minimum N250,000 grant given each of the former practitioners was a start-up capital for them to start a profitable business venture that would not be harmful to the society. The first lady charged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money. She said: “This would be the second time government would empower former female circumcision practitioners in the state as part of efforts to discourage the dastardly act. “We are empowering these women today to take them away from the illegal business. If what they were gaining from female circumcision was why they could not let go of the job, we are ready to empower them.” Earlier in her welcome address, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Ms. Maryam Ogunlade, reaffirmed the Government’s zero-tolerance for female genital mutilation and called for stakeholder’s involvement in stamping it out in all communities across the state. Ogunlade reminded the people of an existing law banning female circumcision in Ekiti State, adding that anyone caught would face legal action. Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health and Human Services, Mr Akinjide Akinleye, expressed displeasure that Ekiti State has the highest prevalence of FGM in southern Nigeria. Akinyele urged the people to complement the synergy of the first lady’s office to eradicate FGM practice in the state by not going back to the renounced unlawful act. Also, the Director-General of Ekiti State Micro Finance and Enterprise Development Agency, Mr. Kayode Fasae, advised the beneficiaries against...
Read MoreFGM Monthly Article – October 2021
Abuse of the Girl Child The Sun Voice of the Nation21st October 2021 Editorial The story of the girl child in Nigeria is not cheery. On the occasion of this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, these issues, once again, were on the front burner. If she is not married off early, she may be denied the opportunity to go to school. If she is not subjected to child labor, she may become a victim of incest and rape. Stories of fathers defiling their daughters or housemaids abound in different parts of the country. In most cases, when such people are caught, the excuse has often been, “I was tempted by the devil.” When a retired army captain was caught defiling his four-year-old niece in Calabar, Cross River State, last year, he claimed that he was under the influence of alcohol. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that one in five girls has experienced sexual violence globally. Female children suffer other forms of violence and indignity in Nigeria. Last year, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl, Nneoma Nnadi, suffered serious abuse in the hands of her guardians in Enugu. The couple reportedly burnt Nneoma’s belly, back and buttocks with hot electric iron, drilled six-inch nail into her head, and inserted red hot pepper into her private part. They also allegedly locked her up in the toilet. Nneoma was rushed to the hospital for treatment as the story drew outrage among Nigerians. In some cultures, female genital mutilation, otherwise called female circumcision, is still prevalent. This is worsened by early marriage which some girls are subjected to. The World Health Organisation says that 12 million girls are married before age 18 each year. A new report by Save the Children International reveals that 44 per cent of girls in Nigeria are married before their 18th birthday. This is said to be one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world and it is largely fuelled by gender inequality. The report indicated that child marriage kills over 60 girls daily worldwide. Many of those who survive it suffer mental and physical torture in their matrimonial homes. And because they are not yet fully mature for childbearing, many of them suffer Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) in addition. This is particularly prevalent in northern Nigeria. Unfortunately, girls are the worst victims of child labor. Rather than go to school, some of them...
Read MoreFGM Monthly Article – September 2021
By: Brenda MulinyaVoice of America Survivor Leads Anti-FGM Campaign in Somali Community in Kenya NAIROBI, KENYA — Female circumcision, known as female genital mutilation, is illegal in Kenya but is still being forced on young girls in some areas. Cases increased after schools closed due to the pandemic, but one survivor is fighting the practice in an ethnic Somali community. Twenty-three-year-old Yasmeen Mohammed volunteers with an organization that champions the rights of young girls and women in Kenya’s Garissa County. Mohammed says her focus is on eradicating the illegal and harmful practice of female genital mutilation, or FGM. “As someone who has gone through the act, I know how harmful this is,” she said. She and other activists have joined the government’s drive to end cases of female genital mutilation. A man shows the logo of a T-shirt that reads “Stop the Cut” referring to female genital mutilation, during an event advocating against harmful practices such as FGM at the Imbirikani Girls High School in Imbirikani, Kenya, April 21, 2016. The number of FGM cases jumped after the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close, particularly in Somali communities in Garissa. Mohammed says the long closure of schools was detrimental to the fight against FGM. “During COVID, it was a moment of staying together, so that was when parents would realize that these children are growing,” she said. “So, for the ones who were young, there is need for them to go through the cut. For the ones who are going through puberty is when you see, ‘Oh, this one is supposed to be married.'” The practice of FGM is illegal in Kenya, with the government pledging to eradicate it by the end of 2022, eight years ahead of the global deadline of 2030. Maka Kassim, a community leader involved in rescuing girls from the practice, says it still thrives in places like Garissa because of strong cultural and religious beliefs. “The Somali culture believes, they believe that a girl who doesn’t go through the cut, she is like someone who is not clean, she is (an) unclean person,” Kassim said. “They also believe that a girl who doesn’t go through the cut, she is also not clean to do the prayers.” The Kenyan government’s anti-FGM board is leading the campaign against the harmful practice. Another volunteer, Bernadette Loloju, says keeping schools open is critical to combating the problem, but...
Read MoreFGM Monthly Article – August 2021
Anti-FGM Project Launched In Kajiado August 20, 2021By Diana Meneto A nine-month anti-FGM project has been launched in Kajiado in a bid to end female genital mutilation in the county. The launch of the ‘Don’t let the cut kill her dream’ project is in line with the Presidential directive to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by the year 2022. The project was launched in partnership with UNICEF, the Anti-FGM Board, Kajiado County Government and the Illaramatak Community Concerns. While speaking during the launch, Chief Administrative Secretary for Public Service and Gender Linah Jebii Kilimo assured the ‘cutters’ of the government’s support in providing them with alternative sources of income. “The government has provided the cutters with uwezo funds that have enabled them to start alternative sources of income generating activities like making and selling mats, milk products, uniforms and beads thus becoming economically empowered without cutting the girls,” said Kilimo This is a great alternative as in June 2014, several women protested the move to eradicate FGM in Kajiado Central claiming that it was their culture and only source of income. She further encouraged the women to apply for the recently launched thamini loan which enables widows to grow their businesses through finances loaned to them. The Chief Executive Officer of the Anti FGM Board Benadette Loloju said that they would run the programme through a multi-agency team comprising of the national and county governments, the elders, the cutters and women who were the key partners in fighting FGM. “Our main challenge so far as a board is the cross boarder female genital mutilation where girls cross over to Tanzania to be cut then come back to Kenya after the cut,” said Loloju. She revealed that an action plan that has been signed by Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Somalia which would help address the cross-border challenge would be launched in September this year. Illaramatak Community Concerns Resource Centre Executive Director Agnes Leina noted that Kajiado County anti-FGM policies have already been launched in Kajiado Central and the steering Committee would ensure that they were...
Read MoreFGM Monthly Article – July 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...
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