WOMENAID µ INTERNATIONAL
ENDING THE MUTILATION
A SENSITIVE ISSUE
A motion seeking to ban female circumcision was defeated in the Kenyan parliament on November 13, 1996
The reality is that fifty per cent of Kenyan women have undergone circumcision. In some areas this percentage is as high as 95 per cent and, as much as 50% of the women were operated on when they were aged between 10 and 15 years old.
Female circumcision is today discussed at international and national forums as a violation of human rights and as inimical to female reproductive health. Yet, to a considerable number of people in countries where FGM is practiced, the argument for its continuation is that the practice is a traditional cultural rite of passage. Precisely, it is by virtue of it being a rite of passage that circumcision results in most harm. It passes off young girls into adulthood and others into marriage when they are psychologically and physically not ready for it.
Circumcision of girls makes them feel grown up, and they have no qualms having sexual relations with adult men, and grown men also view them as mature women, ready for sexual relationships. In areas where girls are circumcised there are higher rates of teenage pregnancy and school drop outs. Teachers report that there is a noticeable drop in school performance soon after circumcision (Family Planning Association of Kenya).
A majority of Kenyans will agree that female circumcision is no longer a necessity, that it greatly affects the status and development of girls and women, and that it is a reproductive and human rights issue. But, it is still a cultural practice and some communities are not ready to abandon it yet.
It is with this understanding of this sensitive nature of the topic that Family Planning Association of Kenya (FPAK), Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and Maendeleo, undertook a study to establish reasons for its persistence and to identify families who no longer practice circumcision in order to learn from them.
Research findings by FPAK PATH and Maendeleo
An uncircumcised girl fetches a lower bride price. In all the communities where the practice persists, bride price, is deeply entrenched and a girl who refuses to be circumcised is a threat to the would-be wealth her father expects on her marriage. We know of cases where girls have been ostracised by their parents for refusing to be circumcised.
"Only 62% of girls with secondary education were circumcised, compared to 96% of those with no education."
FPAK feels that girls should be targeted with information about the practice, and given the confidence to say "no". An uncircumcised girl is likely to be taunted by her family, friends, school mates and young boys. But when armed with information and some formal education she can withstand the pressure as statistics show.
"Female circumcision prepares girls for responsible married life", is one of the arguments for the practice of female circumcision. Girls who are not circumcised, it is argued, are immoral, make rude wives and daughters-in-law. In some communities it is drummed into the girls' head right from a tender age that no man will marry an uncircumcised girl.
The need for sustained community-based education to eradicate female circumcision. While doing their research these organisations undertook community education and information to ensure that individuals at community level appreciate why circumcision must be discarded. Starting with opinion leaders, health workers, teachers, men women and children all are given information during seminars, public meetings, and through specially selected and trained village level 'gender educators'.
An alternative to circumcision: tradition, and the way forward
This alternative ceremony has been promoted to allow the community and the girls to go through all the steps except the actual operation. In addition some education skills have been imparted to the 'godmothers' so that, during the seclusion period, the girls receive information about how to face the challenge of adolescence. They are taught how their bodies work, and about relationships, responsible sexual behaviour, and conception .
Is the battle against female circumcision being won?
Source: "Ending the Mutilation", People & the Planet, Vol.6, No.1, 1997 by Isabel Mbugua,