Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation, or female circumcision, is still widely practiced throughout Africa in at least 26 of its 43 countries. In certain rural areas dominated by tribes, more than 90% of women and girls will undergo the procedure in some way. The prevalence ranges from 98 percent in Somalia to 5 percent in Zaire. It has been illegal in Kenya since 2001 for girls under 17.

Do not be fooled into thinking this is something confined to African or Arabic countries – it is also practiced in the West, as this article in today’s Guardian highlights fresh concerns in the UK.

How

The way FGM is carried out can vary: for example, some tribes will opt for a small, symbolic cut; while others completely remove the clitoris or (external genetalia) and stitch up the open wound. Below is a map of the different procedures carried out throughout Kenya and the rates among various tribes:



Circumcisions are normally carried out without anesthetic, and can result in infection – as well as severe pain during urination, menstruation, sexual intercourse and childbirth. Girls who undergo the procedure have also been known to die from excessive bleeding and infection. Women with no medical experience often carry out procedures in unsanitized environments, which lead to many of these complications. Tin lids and pieces of broken glass are amongst the implements used in the procedure in some cases.

Why

FGM is, for many communities, a highly valued ritual and marks the transition from childhood to womanhood. Its function is to basically reduce or eliminate a woman’s sexual desire, and ensure her virginity until marriage, thus making her suitable to marry. In the more extreme procedures where stitching is required, the size of the vagina is removed in order to enhance sex for the husband.

What’s Being Done

While it has been banned in Kenya for almost ten years and many Governments along with international and local human rights’ groups have been campaigning for its abolition, it still remains prevalent, particularly in the areas I have visited so far in Ilkilorit and Inyonyori, with large Maasai populations.

The Inyonyori clinic has been open since 1986. Johnson, the community health worker who has worked there for the last 20 years, has seen a slow shift in the attitudes of Maasai people with regards to FGM. School children are now educated about its dangers, and are encouraged to report those parents advocating FGM.

“Having laws is great, but implementation is another issue entirely as this is a highly valued tradition among our people,” Johnson says. “It’s all about educating people so they realise themselves how dangerous it is.”

Local initiatives and community projects such as Ntanira na Mugambo (Circumcision Through Words) are also working to preserve the rite of passage aspect of FGM without surgery: I think this approach, combined with increased awareness through school education, will prove to be more effective in the long-term than foreigners, appearing to be ignorant and judgmental to traditions, ‘sticking their noses in’.