KENYA: Limited success for campaigns targeting FGM/C practitioners

August 1, 2011
IRIN Africa


August is when Nchoo Ngochila would normally be gearing up for the traditional female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) season in her Ilchamus community in Kenya's Rift Valley Province.

"I would introduce myself and market my skills to the parents, I would convince them to hire me when the mutilating season came," she told IRIN. "In a day I would cut an average of 10 girls in a village, and would operate in two villages each day."

Ngochila, once a well-respected FGM/C practitioner, charged about US$22 per girl, a healthy income by the standards of the minority Ilchamus community, which comprises just 40,000 people mainly dependent on subsistence agriculture and fishing in Lake Baringo.

"At heart, I felt the pain of watching girls weep as I cut them, but I needed money to pay school fees for my sons," she added.

This year, however, Ngochila will spend her time trying to convince her community the practice should be abandoned. About a year ago, a campaign by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) urged FGM/C practitioners in the area to put down their razors and campaign for women's rights in their communities.

"I was invited for training in our village, they talked about the suffering a girl [experiences] while undergoing FGM, and the way the practice denied women their rights," she said. "I felt so guilty that I cancelled all the bookings I had for August last year; instead I went to the same parents and tried to convince them against FGM."

A hard sell

Of the 30 bookings she had already made in 2010, just two changed their minds about having their daughters cut.

Ngochila found herself on the wrong side of elders and other members of the Ilchamus community; when she tried to convince other practitioners to give up the trade, they accused her of trying to ruin their business.

Local officials estimate that more than 50 percent of Ilchamus girls and women have undergone FGM/C.

The campaign to dissuade traditional practitioners from cutting girls continues, and local women's leader Winnie Mengiri says 15 practitioners from Marighat Division and 20 from Mukutani Division - where many Ilchamus people live - claimed to have been reformed because of various campaigns.

Today, Nodasimi Parteneu, a friend of Ngochila's, struggles to make ends meet, but is determined not to return to performing FGM/C for money.

"At first I thought it was good that Nchoo had abandoned the practice - she was my main competitor - but I later reasoned her way and put down my razor," she said. "Sometimes I get nightmares as I recall how a girl died after she bled following FGM which I had done, but I know God will give me grace to forget those memories."

Alternative incomes

But Mengiri says the high income of the practitioners often means their positions within the community do not stay vacant for long.

"Younger women are now mutilating girls secretly; some people here are yet to embrace the new anti-FGM culture," she said.

Younger women are now mutilating girls secretly; some people here are yet to embrace the new anti-FGM cultureGender and children affairs permanent secretary James Nyikal, who recently officiated at the signing of a declaration to abandon FGM/C by Ilchamus practitioners, elders and community members, said the government intended to provide alternative sources of income to women who wished to leave the profession to discourage them from returning to it.

Ngochila now makes mandazi (pastry), which she sells in schools around her village. Her income has dropped significantly, and she now survives on just $1.10 per day; she is hoping to benefit from the government's women’s entrepreneur fund to expand her business.

Involving men

According to UNFPA gender programme officer Florence Gachanja, a campaign targeting Ilchamus elders to fight FGM/C has borne fruit, leading to the community's endorsement of the anti-FGM declaration.

"Elders are the gate-keepers of culture, if they order that a certain traditional practice should be abandoned, [the community follows]," she said.

UNFPA will also be including Ilchamus “moran”, young men, many of whom refuse to marry uncut women. "We will be having a campaign to... convince them [that] women are the same, cut or not cut," Gachanja added.

The Ilchamus practise a form of FGM/C known as clitoridectomy, the removal of all or part of the clitoris. An estimated 32 percent of women in the Rift Valley Province have undergone the procedure, according to the 2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.

Education, law

Area chief Francis Ole Kaprich says the education of Ilchamus girls will likely have the greatest impact on reducing the prevalence of the practice.

"I am sure this will play a big role in reducing FGM, but there is a need for more campaigns, sensitization and [vigilance] by law keepers if the Ilchamus [are to] abandon FGM completely," he said.

Although criminalizing FGM/C does not seem to have had much impact on the practice, Ole Kaprich said he would be enforcing the law in his own community.

"I know the majority will be doing it in secret, but I will make sure those caught will face the wrath of the law," he said. "We are also sensitizing girls... soon, mutilators will have no one to cut."

Kenya: Ill Chamus Community Declares War Against Female Circumcision

July 14, 2011
Nairobi Star
Pauline Odhiambo

For Sh2,000 per girl, 50-year-old Nchoo Ngochila would move from one village to the next circumcising up to 20 girls in a day.

Her tools of trade a rusty piece of metal cut out from mabati (iron sheet roofing) then bent and filed to a cutting edge. This she would sometimes alternate with a razor blade but would on most occasions prefer mabati which she claims is more efficient for female circumcision.

Today, Ngochila sells mandazi (doughnuts) to schoolgoing children in Marigat District in the Rift Valley Province where she has lived all her life. She stopped circumcising young girls two years ago after attending an FGM seminar where she discovered that obstructed labour was among the effects of female genital cutting. "It is difficult to give birth when you have been circumcised and I say this from my own experience in giving birth," says the wizened Ngochila who looks much older than her 50 years. "From that seminar, I learned that labour pain is less severe for women who haven't been circumcised; they give birth quicker and easier compared to those of us who have been circumcised."

With three children in secondary school, Ngochila says she now finds it harder to pay their school fees but is nonetheless adamant that she will not fall back to circumcising any more girls for a living. "Nowadays I barely make enough money for food but that's okay because I agreed to stop circumcising girls for a good reason. Plus, my children are Christians now and they are against me cutting any more girls."

Like Ngochila, a growing number of people from the Ill Chamus community in Marigat are progressively shunning the idea of female genital mutilation. The area chief Francis ole Kiprich says that at least 40 per cent of the 40,000 plus members of the Ill Chamus community members have ceased circumcising their daughters. This has led to a marked rise in the education levels for girls within the region where just over 10 girls have made it to university level.

However, uncircumcised girls are still widely shunned by a community that perceives them as childish due to their uncircumcised state. "Among the Ill Chamus, a girl is recognised as an adult only after she has been circumcised. It is the only way she can earn the respect of the community and participate in traditional ceremonies."

Indeed, 20-year old Janet Nang'oi is living proof of the stigma uncircumcised girls face in Marigat. In 2003, Nang'oi dodged circumcision by hiding out in the bush during an initiation ceremony where she was to be circumcised together with her sister and other girls in her village. She has since become the butt of cruel jokes by her age mates and younger siblings who now deem her too "immature " for their company. She says, "My brothers won't even let me cook for them or wash their clothes because they say I'm a child who cannot be trusted even with the most basic of chores. Even when I go to fetch water, my age mates refuse to walk with me because they are embarrassed to be seen with me."

In spite of the stigma, Nang'oi pushed on with her studies and is now an education major at the Egerton University, Njoro campus. Most of the girls she was to be circumcised with in the same group soon after dropped out of school to get married.

Ole Kiprich explains that FGM is leading cause of low education levels among girls in Marigat as many are unable to continue with their studies once they are married as was the case for 40-year-old Nasaru Kiriampu who was circumcised and married off at 13.

Kiriampu became the fourth wife to an old man with whom she bore children albeit with some difficulty during labour. However, in the recent years, Kiriampu has learned more about the dangers of circumcision but still believes it to be part and parcel of life in Marigat. With a hint of irony in her voice, Kiriampu says, "One of my daughters is now in secondary school and I tell her to wait till she finishes university to get circumcised but I know the more she gets educated the more she will be reluctant to get circumcised." With the assistance of church organizations and NGOs set up within the region, Kiriampu has joined a women's group which urges girls to advance their studies before undergoing circumcision.

"I've seen many cases of babies getting stuck in the birth canal during labour and their mothers have to be rushed to Kabarnet hospital where they can deliver safely and with the assistance of doctors." She observes that with education more girls are avoiding circumcision and thus may avoid obstructed labour when they are of age.

On June 24, Kiriampu, Nang'oi and Ole Kiprich were among hundreds of people to sign a public declaration on the abandonment of female genital mutilation at the Ill Chamus Cultural Centre in Marigat District. The ceremony was presided over by Dr James Nyikal, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development.

However, even as the ink dries on that declaration, it would be wishful-thinking to claim that female circumcision has been completely wiped out in Marigat as Ole Kiprich reveals that most circumcision ceremonies today take place in secret for fear of arrests by the local administration.

Nonetheless, many of the residents have taken up advocacy against FGM in favour of education which they believe will help decrease poverty levels among the Ill Chamus of Marigat.

A Ceremony Celebrating Change: Abandoning Female Genital Cutting in Guinea

June 24, 2011

Pathfinder International

“From now on, you are one of the great pioneers of ending female genital cutting and soon your example will be followed by other communities,” said Dr. Hawa Toure, a representative of the Minister of State of Social Affairs in Guinea.

On June 5, Dr. Toure delivered the closing speech at a female genital cutting abandonment ceremony in Bissikima, where leaders from 197 Guinean communities gathered in solidarity to declare their rejection of female genital cutting and other cultural practices harmful to the health of mothers and children. Made possible with USAID support, the ceremony was organized by community leaders who wanted to send a public message about the dangers of female genital cutting and the growing movement to end it in Guinea. In total, more than 1,000 people attended the event, including hundreds of community members, former “cutters,” national and local authorities, bilateral and multilateral institutions, and national and international NGOs.

Powerful testimony from community leaders like Mamy Diallo moved the crowd and emphasized the central theme of the ceremony.

 

As a former “cutter” from Sampolia village, Mamy performed genital cutting on girls for nearly 40 years. Accompanied by two other former “cutters,” Mamy pledged her total abandonment of the practice, thanking the community management committees for raising her awareness to the damaging health effects cutting can cause.

For many girls and women, female genital cutting results in severe physical, social, and psychological consequences. Despite growing recognition that the practice is harmful, it remains deeply rooted in Guinean society, with 95 percent of Guinean girls or women having experienced it.

Female genital cutting remains prevalent in many communities, in part, because it is considered a religious obligation. But this is beginning to change.

Sharing his testimony at the ceremony, Imam El Hadj Mamadou Barry explained that female genital cutting is not an Islamic Sunnah, a practice of Prophet Muhammad; and, since cutting causes serious health problems for women, it is appropriate to abandon it. He also added that Islam condemns any act of violence against women.

 

The ceremony ended with a public recitation by all participants of an oath to abandon female genital cutting. Written in both French and Malinké, the oath roughly translates to:

“We solemnly make the decision to permanently abandon female genital cutting—and other harmful traditional practices—to ensure and assert the rights of girls and women to good health and the preservation of their physical integrity and human dignity.”

Ultimately the event inspired and educated, representing a culmination of two years of work by Project ESPOIR, a USAID-funded, Pathfinder-led initiative to reduce and eliminate the practice of female genital cutting in Guinea. Pathfinder joined partners Tostan and Population Services International to build on previously successful female genital cutting reduction programs using Tostan’s community-centered approach to change attitudes about and the practice of female genital cutting.

Reformed practitioners of Female Genital Mutilation receive aid

June 21, 2011
Daily Monitor
Steven Ariong

At least 254 former traditional surgeons of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sebei have received grinding machines to start up alternative means of living after they voluntarily left the age-old vice.

The machines were donated by Inter-African committee Uganda (IACU), one of the NGOs based in Kapchorwa District with funds from Danida. While handing over the machines to the former surgeons in Kapchorwa last week, Mr Geoffrey Sande the program coordinator Inter African Committee Uganda, said the machines were procured inform of support to former FGM surgeons who have left the practice so that they can continue with their daily living since they have been claiming the practice was their source of living.

Mr Sande said apart from grinding machines, the three groups also received thermal generators which will be installed to supply power to the trading centres without electricity and at the end of the month they collect money.

“We looked at this as the way to attract those who are still doing the practice,” he said. Mr Sande said bank accounts have been opened for them to deposit the money they collect. He said the practice is slowly stopping in Kapchorwa and Amudat districts. However, most parents are sneaking with their children into Kenya to undergo FGM.

While receiving the machines Ms Stima Chepto, who was well known for cutting women in Bukwo, now the beneficiary of the project, thanked the NGO for the support and promised that they will work with government to arrest those who are still encouraging the practice. She said the practice was their means of survival although the government was pushing it out. “We would have left circumcising women long time ago but we were not sure on how our daily income would be, but now since we are supported it will be the end,” Ms Chepto said.

Protecting Women in Ethiopia from Genital Cutting

May 31, 2011
Unicef Television

Protecting Women in Ethiopia from Genital Cutting

Maasai join anti-FGM campaign

March 7, 2011
The Citizen
Paskal Mbunga

Mkinga. Circumcision and excision are two ancient traditions which have been practiced globally for centuries. In Tanzania, the later is on the verge of eradication despite the presence of a few tribes that still cherish it. According to medical practitioners, circumcision has proved to be the safest prevention to health hazards in regards to sexual transmitted diseases.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the applied name of the excision that has been common in the central and northern regions. Due to its harm to the victims, the practice has encountered wide protests worldwide. Activists, humanitarian groups and non-governmental organizations worldwide are now at war to eradicate it. Despite efforts to put to light the disastrous effects of the tradition, there are few tribes that refuse to let the FGM die.
Medical officers say wounds inflicted after excision never get healed completely, for when the girl delivers the wounds open afresh and hence making her bleed profusely. According to tribal communities engaged in the practice, excision is believed to reduces sexual desire.

The team of journalists who visited the Maaasai community at Horohoro , reportedly a hardcore in preserving their traditional values, including excision. Salome Sinjore, 45, a married mother of four admitted to have undergone the traditional ritual when aged 18, an age bigger than was usual because of schooling. “Had I not been enrolled in primary school, the excision on me would have been performed earlier, perhaps even at 10 years of age,” she said. She said that immediately after completing primary education, she underwent the traditional ritual and got married. Salome disclosed that excision accompanies a lot of agony with untold pains including bleeding. “It is a Maasai woman pride, a sign of being ready to be married and join the elderly group – a most respected cadre among the Maasai community,” she revealed. For the parents, Salome said, it gives them twice fold advantages. They are going to receive dowry, ranging from four to six cows. “It raises your respect in the community that you have a daughter who has fulfilled the traditional ritual, but also you are elevated to the elderly group,” she explained.

Theresia Salome (60), a Maasai elder and practitioner (ngariba) from Sarage village, is now against the role she had played for the past 15 years before giving up the profession four years back. Apart from denying that the practice is still on the increase, Theresia acknowledged that the practice had brought more harm than pride to the both parties. She narrated how on several occasions her customers had fallen unconsciousness after she had administered the operation. She said”. The operation is done without the use of anaethesia. The victim is therefore subjected to untold pains including blood poisoning, hemorrhage and tetanus risks. “However, no girl ever died under my supervision in the ritual. But I can admit there were cases of girls fainting after heavy breeding,” she said. Theresia who inherited the profession from her mother, told The Citizen after being sensitized on the harm of the ritual practice, she had abandoned it.

Another practitioner (ngariba) who testified that she had abandoned the profession once and for good is a 55-year old Salome Luka who resides at Sarage,a border village, She said the FGM has been a celebrated ritual among the Maasai for centuries ago. She explained that the tribal culture has deep roots in the Maasai community that no body could ever believe that one day they would be willing to abandon the tradition. “It is unbelievable that the vice is being eliminated though slowly” She said and added, “We the Maasai have a record of preserving our traditional values. But to this ritual, we say good-bye to it and thank our government for its campaign against FGM.

Another practitioner who decided to down his tools is Maria Selemani (56) who also resides in Sarage village. She had been in the practice for ten years. She said it was the government through various NGOs that helped to end the harmful practice. She paid much tribute to the Tanga based NGO against FGM, the Tanga Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practiceas Affecting the Health of Women and Children (TIAC). She said, it was TIAC through its numerous seminars and workshops staged in Mkinga district that sensitized the Maasai and other few tribes still glued to the tradition. She remembers on one occasion four years ago, TIAC educated practitioners in Mkinga District on the effects of FGM practices. “The workshop opened our ears and eyes,” recalls Maria.

However, some Maasai elders interviewed, admitted that excision is a by-gone ritual and should be abandoned once and forever. Thomas Napaiya (63) a member of a village council in Perani village in Mwakijembe division said though the Maasai are hard to abandon their traditional values, they now understand that some of the traditional customs are outdated and needed to be scrapped. “Excision should be on the top list to be discouraged”, said Thomas who is also a church elder in his area.

Michael Joseph,64, was of a different opinion when he told reporters that the century-long ritual should prevail because it depicts the Maasai cultural tradition. Said Michael”, You know having both of your children, perhaps a girl who has undergone excision or a circumcised boy, you earn that respect of entering the group of elders, a highly respected one by the Maasai community.

While the Maasai have esteemed respect to age group, the Morani have their respect from those beneath them. In the family, older ones enjoy distinguished respect among themselves. Horohoro border village leaders, Makame Kassim Mbwana, the chairman and Ali Mohamed Ngare, the secretary said the tradition is on the verge of elimination.

Aminata's aunt used to be a circumciser

January 2009. Aminata's aunt used to be circumcise girls. She has stopped and explains why.

200 Ex-circumcisers and Their Assistants Call for the End of FGM/C in The Gambia

Tuesday, 03 November 2009
By The Point

Over 200 representatives convened on October 21st, at the WEC Mission Camp in Kampant, Western Region for a 2-day workshop to reinforce dialogue between ex-circumcisers and practising circumcisers and their assistants for an accelerated total abandonment of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in the Gambia. The workshop, which was organized by the Foundation for Research on Women's Health, Productivity, and the Environment (BAFROW), supported by UNFPA, timely coincided with the 4th Annual Congress of BAFROW's Association of Ex-circumcisers. Coming from around the country, a number of partners attended the ceremony, among which included Members of the Association of Ex- circumcisors, practising circumcisers and their assistants, BAFROW health promoters and health mobilizers, members of the coalition against FGM/C, members of BAFROW's Board of Directors, the Women's Bureau, network of journalists, community leaders, women's leaders, and religious leaders.

Following a march pass by members of the Association to start off the meeting, the Director of BAFROW, Ms. Fatou Waggeh, in her Welcoming Remarks expressed BAFROW's heartfelt appreciation of UNFPA's support. Ms. Waggeh assured UNFPA that BAFROW will do its best to "make good use of the support to achieve [its] goals." The Director appealed to practising circumcisers and their assistants to seize this opportunity to listen to and learn from the workshop. She also encouraged the Association members to use the workshop time to discuss ways of enhancing the Association and its interventions. Ms. Waggeh especially emphasized the importance of active participation by the assistants of practising circumcisers as they tend to become successors in the trade. "It is therefore vital," she stated "that they have a very good understanding of the health and human rights aspects of FGM/C for behaviour change." [...]