No one ever chooses where they want to be born. If we all had a choice, we could choose to be born in royal families.
However, not everyone born in communities that practice harmful cultural rights run away from it. This is the story of 35-year-old Nasieku*, who as her husband says is to blame for him losing a seat at the political table.
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From a distance, she looks at ease but deep down she is troubled because her marriage is in shambles. This has not stopped her. You see, after undergoing the cut, which at first she thought has benefits after being convinced by her elders, Nasieku is known as the village ‘snitch’ who not only rescues but reports parents who force their children to undergo the cut to the authorities.
“I may carry the blame on the political seat lost but Kenyans need to know the truth about the politics of FGM. Even learned people who want to be politically relevant take their girls to ‘kiasi kidogo tu ya shule’, where the circumciser nick’s the clitoris. Some take their girls in order to fit in the political table. The community knows this they just hide it from the government and anti-FGM activists.” Nasieku said.
As if that is not enough, her family does not recognize her. Since she has no money to put a rescue centre in Narok County, her home is the only place young girls run to when they are on the waiting list to be cut.
“The reception from my community about my work has been hostile. Six years ago, girls escaping from FGM started coming to my house. My husband even requested that I slow down my work because of the effect if had on his career in politics and the reception from the community.” Nasieku added.
But why can’t FGM be politicized?
Despite there being significant progress in the fight against female circumcision, non-governmental organisations now want politicians to take up the mantle and walk with them in this fight.
Equality now's end harmful practice program manager Flavia Mwangovya says that this is key in protecting women and girls.
“FGM is deeply entrenched in some communities to the extent that it defining the politics of the day is not surprising. This is actually the case in several countries across the continent where FGM is practised. It is, however, encouraging noting that since the enforcement of the Prohibition of FGM Act enforcement agencies including the Police and the ODPP continue despite this resistance at the community level.” Mwangovya said.
But even with the law in place, communities practising female circumcision have come up with better ways in to outsmart law enforcers.
Medicalisation of FGM tops the list of these new trends mostly carried out by the Kisii and Somali communities.
The other four trends include infant cutting, where communities cut the girls at a younger age when they cannot report the matter or ask for help.
They also include vacation cutting, where communities living abroad travel with their children back to Kenya during the holidays and are forcibly cut.
Camouflaging has also been listed as a new trend. During male circumcision, the communities also circumcise the girls. In the cross-border FGM method, young girls, especially those living on the Kenya–Tanzania border, are taken to Tanzania for the cut. After they heal they come back home to Kenya.
According to the 2014 Kenya Demographic Health Survey, one in every five girls and women aged between 15-49 years have undergone FGM, but the rate is much higher in communities that view it as a rite of passage.
Chairperson of the anti-FGM board Bernadette Loloju says that despite Kenya having a law in a place if politicised, the number of girls being cut would drastically reduce.
"The community looks up to their leaders. So if they came out strongly against this like they do when asking for votes, FGM would become history."
And as the world marks the
International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM today, it is the hope that many girls living in communities that still practice this harmful practice don't subject them to the cut as they are entitled to have a say to their bodies.
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*not her real name
