• Kenya is ranked third globally among countries with the highest prevalence of FGM
• A 2017 petition seeking to legalise the practice will be heard today and tomorrow.
Image: FILE
Ancestral curses, bad omens in the family, death of children during birth and sexual perversion are some of the myths used to coerce girls into female genital mutilation.
Others are that excision is essential for fertility and the procedure cleanses and beautifies the female genitalia, and that the clitoris will grow to the size of a penis if not cut.
During a media session on training and advocacy on communications and advocacy on FGM, Equality Now media lead Sarah Wambui said sometimes women and girls are told their genitalia is dangerous and would affect their wellbeing if not eliminated.
Dr Tatu Kamau filed a petition in 2017 seeking to legalise FGM arguing there is a discrimination between male and female circumcision.
The case will be heard today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday).
She is also seeking interpretation of whether or not the right of women to uphold and respect their culture was violated by the enactment of the FGM Act 2011.
Also at the centre of her petition is whether or not the Anti-FGM board was illegally created and serves to infringe on the rights of women as enshrined in the Constitution.
The Prohibition of FGM Act 2011 forbids clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation which are the common types of FGM.
Clitoridectomy is the partial or total removal of the clitoris or the prepuce. Excision is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora.
Infibulation is the narrowing of the vaginal orifice with the creation of a covering seal by cutting and repositioning the labia majora.
Changing FGM trends such as cutting at a younger age, cross-border cutting and medicalization have been identified as challenges to the President's ambition to end FGM by 2022.
Data from UN Women show at least 200 million women and girls in 30 countries have undergone the cut - the majority of the cuts were before the age of five.
"28 per cent of women who have undergone FGM in Kenya between ages 20-24 were cut at age 5-9, compared to 17 per cent who have undergone FGM between age 45-49," Wambui said.
Medical professionals are also increasingly performing FGM in public or private hospitals or are invited to the girl's home.
According to the Population Council, in 2017 Kenya and Guinea had the third highest rate of medicalized FGM globally at 15 per cent.
"The medicalization of FGM in Kenya is a trend that has been documented, particularly among the Kisii," Wambui said.
"Some doctors set up temporary “clinics” during school holidays. Girls might be taken to medical facilities under the pretext of suffering from an ailment only for them to be cut."
Legal advisor Esther Waweru unlike in male circumcision, health practitioners are not allowed to perform the cut on women.