Kenya’s girls fight back against FGM (female mutilation) practices

[undeterred]

(WNN/EN) Nairobi, KENYA, EASTERN AFRICA: Although the practice of female cutting, known as FGM – Female Genital Mutilation continues today in Kenya, a new movement has begun that shows promise for an ‘easier and more tolerant’ society as more and more girls begin to stand up for their rights to refuse the harmful practice.

Approximately 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM,
In Kenya the fight against FGM is also a fight against the lack of enforcement of the law to protect children inside the region. Laws providing for child safety and protection through The Children Act in 2001 have been enacted to help children who have a history of little to no rights in the region. Later a more detailed law against FGM was introduced, Kenya’s Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011. But enforcement of the laws continues to be the root of the problem in stopping FGM in its entirety.

“FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage,” outlines the United Nations agency WHO – World Health Organization. “Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons,” continues WHO. In certain societies worldwide, including Kenya, FGM is too often thought of as an integral part of a daughter’s preparation for marriage and family life. The emphasis with the practice is to discourage a young teenager from engaging in sexual activity before marriage and to encourage the interest of prospective suitors for a daughter.

For Kenyan girls in the Pokot region of Western Kenya, the August and December school holidays are particularly dangerous, as these are when mass female genital mutilation and child marriages are most likely to take place. Despite the existence of Kenyan laws against FGM and child marriage, it is clear that they are not being implemented in the region to protect girls, some of whom have stayed in school over the holiday period, fearing what might happen should they return to their families – or have run away from home.



Although the ancient practice of female cutting, known as FGM – Female Genital Mutilation, continues in Kenya despite laws against it, some progress to stop it is being made in the region. These happy mothers are standing together to reunite with daughters who have taken a stand against their families and FGM, many who have left to live apart from their family in shelters. This special and unique mother-daughter reuniting ceremony is called a ‘Reconciliation Ceremony’ that recognizes a daughter’s right to refuse FGM and is part of a new movement that is now sweeping across Kenya as the ancient practice of FGM is steadily becoming more and more unpopular.
Image: EqualityNow

Read more at: http://womennewsnetwork.net/2013/10/19/kenyas-girls-fight-back/

[Warpy]

1. This is wonderful news

Mothers and grandmothers had been the main enforcers of the practice, thinking no decent man would ever want a woman who hadn't been mutilated.

If there is reconciliation between them and their defiant daughters, it will give more daughters the courage to flee until they are considered too old to have it done.

The shelters there have been a very important part of ending this practice.

[undeterred]

2. Yes it is.

I love the joy on their faces in this photo.

I'll never forget my male professors talking about this (FGM) as an issue which other cultures shouldn't pass judgment on. And they are still involved in the higher education of women.

[Warpy]

3. What's really great here is that they didn't take the punitive approach

and putting women in prison for having it done to their daughters and grand daughters. They set up shelters for young girls during their riskiest years. Now those girls are able to go back to their families.

Had they taken the punitive approach, that would likely not be the case.

[niyad]

4. and waiting for the usual "but what about circumcision" whine. for those who don't know what FGM

really involves, a brief rundown:

. . . .

Procedures

Female genital mutilation is classified into four major types.

Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).
Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.



No health benefits, only harm

FGM has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls' and women's bodies.

Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.

Long-term consequences can include:

recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections;
cysts;
infertility;
an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths;
the need for later surgeries. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening (type 3 above) needs to be cut open later to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes it is stitched again several times, including after childbirth, hence the woman goes through repeated opening and closing procedures, further increasing and repeated both immediate and long-term risks.

areas.
Cultural, religious and social causes

The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities.

Where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice.
FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.
FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. FGM is in many communities believed to reduce a woman's libido and therefore believed to help her resist "illicit" sexual acts. When a vaginal opening is covered or narrowed (type 3 above), the fear of the pain of opening it, and the fear that this will be found out, is expected to further discourage "illicit" sexual intercourse among women with this type of FGM.
FGM is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are “clean” and "beautiful" after removal of body parts that are considered "male" or "unclean".

. . .

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/


. . .

[undeterred]

6. Thanks for including the info.

[niyad]

7. you are most welcome

[niyad]

5. k and r