Men in Marsabit have been warned against using the Islam religion to continue perpetuating the harmful practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.
In an engagement meeting with men, organised by the Anti-FGM board, the men have been urged to stop oppressing women and girls in the name of culture and religion.
Dr Rashid Omar, Islam Scholar and an Anti-FGM board director said that FGM has no basis in Islam religion.
“Those using religion to perpetuate it rely on weak jurisprudence of hadiths that cannot be relied upon for authority,” he said.
Dr Omar said that FGM goes against the foundation of social institutions which are family, education, health, religion and the economy.
He said the government is not against culture or religion.
“The government recognizes culture as the basic foundation of the country and civilisation of the people,” he said.
“A culture that oppresses is against the constitution and FGM and child marriage are one of them.”
Marsabit is one of the areas in Kenya where communities still hold fast to the practice of FGM.
The Forum for African Women Educationalists Kenya partnered with Equal Measures 2030 to do a case study of refugee girls in Eastleigh between March and September 2021.
“We found that some girls from pastoral communities from North Eastern Kenya living in Eastleigh, are smuggled into neighbouring Somalia to have the practice done as it is illegal in Kenya,” the study said.
As schools draw near to closure, cases of secret FGM practices may rise as girls may have no refuge at home.
