Female genital mutilation has a direct correlation to early marriages — two social evil practices that stalk our society despite the gains made
in the recent past.
They are some of the most harmful cultural practices that confront our girls and women today, variously camouflaged as rites of passage, sexual purity or religious fulfillment, among others.
They have severe consequences on the victims’ health, education and their equality in society. World Vision has argued early marriage can have significant mental health impacts, such as anxiety and depression, occasioned by the physical implications. They include abuse and the social isolation experienced by child spouses, who are often removed from their families and withdrawn from school.
On the other hand, FGM violates the right to health, security and physical integrity of the person; the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and the right to life when the procedure results in death.
In some communities, once a girl has undergone FGM, she is “ready” for marriage. This leads to termination of her education, early marriage, pregnancy and a vicious cycle of domestic violence and poverty.
At least 9.3 million girls and women in Kenya have undergone FGM, or 6.6 per cent of an estimated 140 million girls and women cut worldwide. In 2014, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, the national FGM prevalence stood at 21 per cent, down from 27 per cent in 2009, the highest drop in national FGM prevalence rates recorded in the world.
The Survey indicates female circumcision is less common among younger women and is perhaps on the decline: Eleven per cent of women aged between 15-19 years are circumcised compared with over 20 per cent among women over age 30. Over 40 per cent of women aged 45-49 are circumcised. Further, education is a long-term tool to empower girls, boys, youth, women and men to abandon harmful practices that add no value to their lives, and, crucially, it delays marriage.
Investing in girls’ education has significant benefits to them, their families and communities. The inclusion of FGM information in schools’ curricula, colleges and universities can be an effective long-term strategy in abandonment of the practice. It is an indication that we are beginning to confront what has been described by experts as the “persistence of traditional stereotypes of masculinity”, which pin girls and women to an outdated and selfish cultural environment of repression and contempt, with positive outcomes.
It has also been argued that the social drivers of FGM and early marriages’ harmful cultural practices include limited economic opportunities for women and girls, religious misconceptions, control of sexual activity and gender inequalities and norms. This puts similarities of the two in clear perspective.
Research has shown investing in girls and women is the most effective investment, far beyond the individual women. Investing in women’s economic participation is a direct way to gender equality, poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth. In this regard, Kenya has undertaken major socioeconomic programmes that include the Women’s Enterprise Fund, the Youth Enterprise Fund and the Uwezo Fund, which have enabled women to access funds for starting or growing their business ventures . For world society to experience progress, girls and women need their entitled equal opportunities, which not only benefit girls and women but society as a whole.
Kenya has also achieved almost 90 per cent of girls who complete primary education and has recorded an 89.5 per cent primary completion rate for girls as well as higher transition rates to secondary school.
For world society to experience progress, girls and women need their entitled equal opportunities, which not only benefit girls and women but society as a whole.
Kariuki is the Cabinet Secretary, Public Service, Youth & Gender Affairs