Dusk restrictions imposed in Laikipia North to shield girls from FGM and SGBV

Teenage girls during a graduation ceremony of alternative rites of passage in Laikipia North on November 22, 2025

Human rights activists have sounded an alarm over skyrocketing cases of female genital mutilation in Laikipia North subcounty, Laikipia county.

This was revealed during the graduation of 250 girls who underwent alternative rites of passage sponsored by Action For Children In Conflict (AFCIC), an organisation that fights for children’s rights.

According to the anti-FGM board, over 80 per cent of girls aged between 15 and 19 years in the area are subjected to the vice.

The board’s CEO Bernadette Loloju said the high prevalence is concerning and called for a multi-faceted approach to the fight against the retrogressive practice.

“We have made major strides as a country but we still have areas that are reporting very high incidences of FGM,” Loloju said.

Nationally, nine per cent of girls in the same age group have undergone the cut, a drop from the 10 per cent recorded in 2014.

About 15 per cent of women aged between 19 and 45 years have also been subjected to FGM, a decline from the 21 per cent reported in 2014.

She noted that in Laikipia North, a high number of girls have been dropping out of school due to teen pregnancies and challenged parents to prohibit their daughters from night ceremonies.

Earlier this year, the board launched the ‘My dear daughter campaign’, whose objective is to end FGM by 2030.

The campaign focuses on using men to change the community’s perspective regarding FGM, mothers who have undergone the cut and have experienced the challenges and pain associated with it and the girls themselves, to raise their voices against it.

Loloju said the fight against the vice cannot be won without including men, who are the custodians of traditions in many communities.

John Muiruri, a director at Action For Children In Conflict (AFCIC) issues a certificate to a girl during Alternative Rites of Passage graduation ceremony in Laikipia North on November 22, 2025

Deputy county commissioner David Boen confirmed that a subcounty advisory committee was convened recently and prohibited girls from attending communal ceremonies past 6 pm.

In all communal forums, administrators were tasked with the role of creating awareness on FGM and sexual and gender-based violence.

“Members of the community organising a community event such as weddings or boys' circumcision will have to notify the area chief so a team of child protection volunteers can be put together,” he said.

The subcounty has been grappling with the challenge of morans luring girls to their manyattas during communal events and altering the course of their lives after they fall pregnant. 

Boen said some forcefully take the girls from the events.

“We put in place these measures to ensure these vices are reduced during the festive season and protect our women and girls.”

Under the Wezesha Wasichana Project, community members brought their daughters for the alternative rites of passage programme.

“FGM is one of the most retrogressive injustices meted out against the girl child and that’s why we are working with them to save them from it. We are happy the community is embracing alternative rites of passage and has started saying no to FGM,” AFCIC director John Muiruri said. 

Muiruri said the organisation will launch another programme in 2027, targeted at empowering boys.