Without the cut

April 16, 2010
By CODA International

Kenya: A call to end female genital mutilation

February 19, 2010
By Lucy Murunga -  World Vision

At the age of only eleven years, Irene was forced to run away from her home to escape what the community made her believe was a traditional obligation - female genital mutilation.

Through the support of World Vision, Irene has been offered a safe haven in a rescue centre that accommodates girls who have been circumcised against their wish or who, like her, are escaping the practice.

World Vision’s programme manager in the Marigat area of Kenya, Pamela Wamalwa, expresses optimism in World Vision's anti-mutilation campaign. The prevalence of genital cutting and early marriage is slowly but steadily decreasing in the area.

“We have been working closely with community members, educating them on the negative effects,” explains Wamalwa. Instead of the traditional ceremony in which the girls had to be circumcised, now they undergo an alternative rite of passage. Communities maintain the rituals that lead adolescent girls to womanhood but exclude the dangerous cutting.

Finding new ways to make a living

Female circumcisers, who did not want to be identified for fear of being condemned, expressed their willingness to stop the practice only if the government assisted them with alternative income generating activities.

Through KADET, a microfinance unit of World Vision, many women are able to access loans to start up small businesses.

“Through the organisation’s projects in the [programme area] like water, food security, microfinance and education, community members are keener on development,” explains Wamalwa.

Alternative rite of passage

Tabitha Parteneu, World Vision’s girl child project coordinator cannot hide her joy as she prepares more than 80 girls for graduation.

She explains why the alternative rite of passage is such an important part of the girls upbringing while removing the risks of bleeding, blood poisoning, shock and childbirth problems that often follow female genital mutilation, also called FGM.

“We put the girls in a secluded place for one or two weeks and train them on the effects of FGM, early marriage and HIV and AIDS,” she explains.

“We also train them on life skills, the advantages of not undergoing FGM and address attitude change. We train the boys as well to make them understand why girls do not have to undergo circumcision.”

This December, 89 girls were awarded certificates and 27 boys trained. The ceremony is held every April, August and December.

Irene has just graduated. “I am very happy today because I went through [the rite], and have graduated to adulthood without losing my dignity,” she says.

Poverty and early marriage

Zakayo Lolpejalai, World Vision programme manager for the North Rift area in Kenya, says that the community has become so enslaved to the retrogressive beliefs that girls have no say in what happens to their bodies. Society makes decisions for them and holds that once the girls are circumcised then they are ready for marriage.

“More often than not, the girls are married off to men old enough to be their grandfather,” he adds. "The parents receive blankets, sugar and tobacco in exchange for the girls.”

Lolpejalai also cites poverty as the major causes of early marriages. The sentiment is echoed by Samuel Lerono, a member of the Ilchamus Moran dancers. Lerono narrates how his two sisters were married off in their early teenage years.

“We held celebrations all night and the next day my sisters were gone,” he explains. "Maybe if we had refused to conform to traditions things would have been different. I vowed the same will not happen to my daughters.”

Lerono deems it unfair to deny the girls education and a decent life by resigning them to tradition. He sings in all community gatherings his message, “stop FGM, and educate the girls”. He makes an appeal to his fellow parents to embrace change, emphasising that mutilating girls is a barbaric and archaic act that must be shunned.

An important role for government

As the fight against the practice goes on among the Njemps community in the Baringo Central area, law enforcement officers and political leaders in the region are playing their part. Leaders have stated in different gatherings that the vice must be rooted out for good.

Peter Kitilit, an administrative officer in the region says they have partnered with World Vision to ensure that girls are protected and the people who practice female circumcision are apprehended.

“We have managed to educate parents in local gatherings and convince them that circumcising girls is not a gate into womanhood. For those who do not cooperate we let the law deal with them,” he explains.

According to Kitilit, prevalence has decreased by 25%.

Ending FGM

Seventeen-year-old Daisy has just completed her high school education. “I said 'no' to FGM because I knew the dangers,” she says, adding that the alternative rite “is a decent way of transitioning girls to adulthood without exposing them to health complications."

Sixty-year-old Napunyu Letaparkwe practised girls’ circumcision for more than thirty years. Now she has stopped. “I have heard of girls who bled to death during the process,” she says.

Caroline Nalianya, child rights national coordinator at World Vision Kenya, says female genital mutilation is a child protection issue. “The children and sexual offences acts passed in 2006 outlaws FGM,” she explains.

“FGM affects the education of the girl child, causing premature school drop-outs and early marriage. The girl's life stops the moment she is married off, hence denying her life in all its fullness. FGM infringes the rights of the girl child. It is a health right for them not to be circumcised.

“World Vision is committed to the protection and well-being of all children in Kenya and through partnership with the ministry of education and other government departments, we have been able to tap into funds set aside for women to provide an alternative source of income to female circumcisers,” explains Nalianya.

Changing attitudes

The area Member of Parliament, Hon. Sammy Mwaita, expresses appreciation for World Vision's efforts to raise public awareness through education campaigns and encouraging alternative rites of passage.

World Vision has assisted the community through the construction of two dormitories which have acted as rescue centres for girls as they wait to be reconciled with their parents.

“We are dealing with people who are deeply entrenched in cultural beliefs. At times, when you tell them to abandon the FGM practice, they feel like they are being coerced into discarding their culture,” explains Mwaita.

“We as the leadership in this area want to emphasise that FGM is not an obligation. It lowers the dignity of women." We have role models who have succeeded in the community because they got an education which could have been impossible if they saluted tradition,” he continues.

"Attitude change takes time. We will meet resistance and the practice cannot be stopped overnight, but the efforts will go a long way.”

Over 3000 Participants Expected at “Zero Tolerance to FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) Run”

February 1, 2010
By PR Web

US Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, to lead delegation of guests

Nairobi, Kenya (PRWEB) February 1, 2010 -- Canadian NGO, The Nancy Nielsen Charitable Foundation, and its Kenyan agent, Cherish Others, a local NGO that opposes female Genital mutilation among the Masai, have organized a demonstration run/walk to protest FGM in the Transmara. The 4 kilometer event will be held in Kilgoris town on Saturday February 6th, International Zero Tolerance of FGM Day. The flag goes down at the starting point, the Losuento Primary School, at 10:30 AM. The run will end at the DEB Primary school. Over 3000 participants are expected. The event aims to sensitize the Maasai community to the dangers of FGM.

Female Genital Mutilation is a thorny issue in Kenya with several communities still hooked on the practice nine years after the government declared it illegal and an abuse of children’s rights.

Nancy Nielsen CEO of her foundation, and Ruth Konchellah, the Director of Cherish Others, will host a high-profile group of attendees including U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger and Vanessa Hynes, wife of the Canadian High Commission to Kenya. Also expected are local Member of Parliament Hon. Gideon Konchellah, Minister for Sports Hon. Helen Sambili and Agnes Pareyio, a well known FGM activist from Narok.

The anti FGM run, which was started in honor of the girl child, has a mission to change attitudes and behavior of the FGM practicing communities and enlightening young girls in the community through alternate rite of passage ceremonies that do not include FGM.

Ruth Konchellah, Director of Cherish Others says: “A Maasai girl grows up with very little understanding of her own sexuality and only comes to terms with it when circumcision is discussed. How and why the procedure is being carried out on her, is not revealed to her. We realized that we had a duty as an organization to educate and inform these girls on the real dangers of this practice.”

Cherish Others has developed educational programs for girls in affected communities. “Given the information we provide about the dangers of the practice, a girl will understand why she does not have to go through with the practice,” says Ruth.

The programs target girls who refuse to undergo FGM, often against the wishes of their parents and relatives. Cherish Others provides alternative shelter at homes of women who support Cherish Others’ work. Coerced victims of FGM are also considered for counseling and shelter, since they risk being married off early without their consent.

“FGM is a culturally sensitive issue in some parts of Kenya, nonetheless we need to create a greater awareness of the negative effects of FGM. It is a great honor for my foundation to support this initiative,” says Nancy Nielsen, of the Nancy Nielsen Charitable Foundation.

Cherish Others mobilizes clan elders and educates them about the harmful effects of FGM.
The graduation of the girls who will have taken part in the alternative rite of passage, will be held after the run where they will be recognized with certificates, crowns and shukas.

For more information, contact Mumbi Keega, Nairobi: Hill & Knowlton: +254 20 4454461-8; Cell: +254 722 366 380; Email: Mumbi(dot)keega(at)hillandknowlton(dot)co(dot)ke

About Nancy Nielsen and Nancy Nielsen Charitable Foundation

Canadian resident Nancy Nielsen was CEO of her own company, an international medical marketing firm, until she retired in 2004 while still in her 40s.

After visiting Kenya 3 years ago and becoming aware of the threat that FGM poses to young women in rural Kenya, Nancy created the Nancy Nielsen Charitable Foundation (which also operates as the legal entity: End FGM) to fund initiatives that raise awareness of the negative effects of FGM in rural Kenya (The TransMara).

With Ruth Konchellah acting as its Kenyan agent, The Nancy Nielsen Charitable Foundation funds FGM awareness events in Kenya, events such as the annual International Zero Tolerance FGM Day run in Kilgoris, Kenya, as well as quarterly alternate right of passage ceremonies organized and managed by Ruth Konchellah. Intended to replace the traditional alternate right of passage ceremony wherein young Maasai girls receive "the cut," each alternate right of passage ceremony routinely attracts up to 100 girls from the Transmara.

It is during the traditional Maasai right of passage ceremony that girls age 10 and up receive genital cutting to make them marriageable. Without the "cut" many young Maasai men and Maasai parents do not consider girls fit for marriage.

Members of the board of The Nancy Nielsen Charitable Foundation are:

Nancy Nielsen: President
Dr. Laura Hughes: Treasurer
Julia Hughes: Secretary
Krista Lopes: Chair

About Ruth Konchellah and Cherish Others Organization

Ruth Konchellah registered Cherish Others as a Kenyan NGO several years ago to combat FGM in rural Maasai communities. Ruth is herself a Maasai.

The focus of Cherish Others includes:

HIV/AIDS awareness prevention and control Promoting Girl child rights and Education Campaigning against women marginalization Community based health care management Safe Water and Sanitation

Cherish Others contributes to advocacy campaigns for issues affecting the girl child, such as Female Genital Mutilation FGM, child marriages, education, girl child rights and adolescent pregnancies. It is also involved in mentoring young girls for professional development. The organization is involved in sensitizing the communities about FGM as well as supporting and encouraging girls and women.

Cherish Others also supports girl child orphans from the pastoral Maasai community in Kilgoris. Girls as young as 6 years are subjected to female genital cutting then denied the opportunity to go on with schooling as they are married off immediately. This practice has been identified as a predisposing factor of contracting HIV thereby increasing their vulnerability.

For more information, visit http://www.cherishothers.org

Combating female genital mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan

Kurdish Herald Vol. 1 Issue 4, August 2009 By Haje Keli As the first organization in Iraqi Kurdistan to open a women’s shelter, WADI is an authority on women’s issues in the region, an area of great concern to any activist or observer concerned with true democratization and respect for human rights. When the organization’s “Nawa center” opened in 1999, the social acceptance for such an institution was scarce, and the group’s volunteers faced daily challenges of various types. In some people’s eyes, women's shelters are seen as institutions that break up homes, and the female beneficiary is believed by those people to be bringing shame upon her family. Furthermore, even the employees of the organization have faced ridicule for their efforts. Mr. Falah Murad Khan, the director of WADI’s office in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, laughingly recalls an incident where he was phoned by an anonymous caller telling him that he should be ashamed that, as a man, he was working on "feminine" affairs. This was after Mr. Khan appeared on a radio show talking about WADI’s efforts to fight female genital mutilation. In a region plagued by various issues of gender discrimination, WADI has devoted much of its efforts as of late to one particular, serious issue: female genital mutilation. This practice involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, which more specifically includes partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora. This painful surgery is customarily performed on women usually between the ages of 4 and 12, without regard for medical concerns or sanitation. The procedure itself is customarily done by a woman using a razor or knife, and no anesthetic is provided. Following the cutting, the woman’s bleeding wound is covered with ash and sometimes icy water is used in an attempt to control bleeding. The victim of this procedure may indeed bleed to death or contract a potential lethal infection. This phenomenon has been widely discussed over the last few years in Kurdistan; although no one has ever provided any real data regarding the number of Kurdish women who have been victimized in this awful way. This changed in 2003, when WADI sent out teams of workers to knock on the door of every house and ask the women if they had been “circumcised”. This bold idea bore fruits, as the different teams discovered disturbing tendencies among the rural population of Kurdistan and then developed a plan of action to address this issue. WADI assembled teams consisting of specially trained employees and assigned them to different areas such as Raniya/Qaladize, Germiyan, Erbil and Sulaymaniya. These teams, consisting of only women, traveled around villages and knocked on doors, seeking to inform the people about genital mutilation. The first year of the project was dedicated to using data obtained to map the various areas that have been specifically affected by trends of female genital mutilation. The teams began contacting women in certain villages, gathering them to view a film produced by the organization about genital mutilation. The film is a sort of documentary where doctors and religious scholars speak of negative effects of genital mutilation. The doctor in the film speaks about the damage done to women from a medical point-of-view, while the Islamic cleric states that it is non- Islamic to circumcise girls. There are also women in the film, victims of genital mutilation, who share their painful experiences. After viewing the film, there was time for a discussion among the women, and according, to WADI’s employees, some of them realized that genital mutilation was a bad thing and stated that would not put their own daughters through it. The following year the WADI teams went back to the same homes and spoke to the same women that they had met who were shown the film, with the purpose of finding out if the women had indeed spared their daughters from circumcision, or if they had succumbed to pressure from the rest of the village. The film would be shown again, but now the WADI teams would concentrate specifically on the unconvinced women. The third year, the teams yet again went back to the villages they were assigned to the first year and spoke with the same women from the last two years. From 2005-2008, the WADI teams visited a total of 84 villages. As the American-led war against Saddam Hussein approached in 2003, the WADI organization trained groups of workers to provide immediate assistance to internally displaced women and children as a result of the war. When it became obvious that the war did not impact women and children in the Kurdistan autonomous region, the organization switched its focus and traveled to various villages to see what sort of aid women were in need of. This is when the teams discovered that females in many of Kurdistan’s rural areas had similar stories of post-circumcision complications. Many of the village women had been genitally mutilated, and reported that, as a result, they suffered physically and sexually. A major long-term - indeed lifelong - complication of so-called circumcision is that women lose a sense of sexual desire. Unfortunately, not everyone sees this as a negative consequence. Mr. Khan explained, “This is not seen as a problem, as sex is viewed as being for the enjoyment of the man only.” In 2004, the teams of WADI spoke to 1,500 women in the Germiyan region, and 907 of them admitted to being victims of female genital mutilation. At the same time, the team assigned to the Erbil region discovered that 380 of the 440 women they spoke to subject to the practice. Four female employees of WADI present during the meeting in Sulaymaniyah told various stories about the people they met and discussions they had during the course of their work. During their many meetings with the women of villages, they discovered that some women were mutilated during their wedding day. They had also been told that some women had been mutilated so badly that parts of their inner thighs had been sliced off in the process. One would hope that the local government would be the first in line in addressing the serious issue of female genital mutilation. Sadly, according to Mr. Khan, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs were, at first, very open to collaboration with WADI, but after all the plans were set, they withdrew their support. According to Mr. Khan, the Ministry of Health claimed that the statistics presented by WADI were inaccurate, and it was impossible that so many females could have been subjected to genital mutilation. Mr. Khan explained that the sudden reluctance of the ministries to cooperate with WADI might be because the government sees this sort of work as possibly generating bad publicity for the region. Regardless of the difficulties facing those who seek to combat female genital mutilation, there is actually a glimmer of hope. The WADI teams have discovered that, after fighting genital mutilation for years, there is now, in some areas, a certain stigma attached to the practice. The younger generation, upon choosing a wife, will ask her if she has been “circumcised”. If she has been, she becomes less desirable because now men know that a woman sexual urges decrease substantially as a result of this mutilation. Many men in the younger generation want their wife to enjoy sex as much as they do. WADI is taking a special approach in tackling this serious societal problem, as, year-after-year, they work with the same people. The people who viewed the film about the genital mutilation were contacted the following year and the year after to see if they had “changed” their minds. This approach has the likely affect of giving those contacted a sense of importance and motivates them to be a more active part in this focused, individualized effort. At the same time, it provides for reliable data concerning the efficacy of WADI’s approach to education on the issue of female genital mutilation. One will hope that they can continue in their efforts despite the various obstacles that lie in their way, and receive increased support from both governmental and non-governmental groups to expand their efforts. It would be a true victory for Kurdish society if the practice of female genital mutilation could soon become a thing of the past.