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Why the Female 'Cut' Refuses to Go Away
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- Published on Tuesday, 03 July 2007 05:41
But a 1998 study by the World Health Organisation showed that it was still rampant, with the three Gusii districts of Kisii, Gucha and Nyamira recording the highest rate - 97 per cent.
Of Kenya's 42 ethnic groups, only Teso, Luo, Luyia and Turkana do not practise it. Why then is what lobby groups call female genital mutilation common despite interventions by many organisations?
"Circumcision is part of a people's culture and telling them that it is primitive only makes them aggressively defend it and continue practising it," says Prof Jesse Mugambi of the University of Nairobi's cultural studies department.This explains why NGOs and churches, which organise alternative rites of passage, still have some girls being circumcised before or even after the training.
"In the African culture we welcome visitors, and it is rude to disagree with them. But this does not mean we will do what they advise us to do. We will continue with our lives the way we have always done once the visitors are gone," the don says, referring to the campaign against it."Outlawing female circumcision can be counterproductive," he points out. "It will go underground, making people do it hurriedly without taking into account hygiene and safety.
"It has happened before - in the 1920s and 1930s. The more the missionaries and the colonial government forced the Kikuyu to abandon the practice, the more it became prevalent."This attitude prevailed when the authorities tried to implement the law against female circumcision. MPs are often heard daring chiefs and other law-enforcers to go to their constituencies. To be seen to be upholding this cultural practice is a sure way to get votes.
Some parents play the cat-and-mouse game with the authorities. When the latter are more alert during school holidays, they take their children for the "cut" during the term.In other areas, hospitals are cashing in. A girl is admitted ostensibly suffering from some disease, only for her to undergo the cut.But this, they argue, waters down the significance of the practice as some communities argue that shedding blood binds the initiate to her ancestors and is let into the community's secrets. In others, the training that goes with the cut to mark the transition between childhood and adulthood is most important. Having it in the hospital allows neither.
Finding out whether communities attaching so much importance to blood will accept it from somewhere else, say a finger, may change the approach in eradicating it.The tragedy is that efforts to eradicate female circumcision do not provide practical alternatives. Generally, there is no forum for the preparation of youths for adulthood - a rite of passage.
Parents spend about three months each year with their children during holidays or doing homework or for extra tuition. Prof Mugambi says that during the nine months children spend with teachers, there is little time for nurturing as they (teachers) strictly follow the syllabus. They are not trained in nurturing either.
He calls upon the people fighting the practice to ensure they do not just condemn it, but also ensure children get the skills for the next phase of their life. Without this, a void will be created, hence the need for circumcision and the traditional training.Moreover, the circumcision age is coming down among many communities, with Taita girls doing it at eight days old. It might be helpful if parents respected the children's choice before going ahead with the procedure. Fouzia Hassan, 13, was eight when she was circumcised together with her sister Fardousa.
"We were subjected to the Stone Age ritual prevalent in our Somali community. I saw the old lady with many blades doing it again and again. I screamed, but my mum only ordered: 'Quiet!' The pain, horror and shock of circumcision left an indelible mark on my psyche," she told the hundreds participants at the conference, with tears welling in her eyes.For a successful campaign, the justifications must be crushed, argues lawyer Judy Thongori, who specialises in family law and human rights.
In many communities, supporting arguments are entrenched in the people's psyche, and in such cases, training may be the only way to ensure the war is won.
Among some communities, an uncircumcised woman is a bad omen; all her children and husband will die, they believe. "No woman wants this to happen to her loved ones, and will opt for the procedure," Ms Thongori says.
Perhaps the most plausible justification for female circumcision is reducing sexuality, a procedure they will be horrified to think of, if it happened to them, says Ms Mary Moraa of Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation."To succeed in the campaign against female circumcision, men must be actively involved," she says. "They are passionate about the rite; some will even fight physically when they meet people advocating its eradication. But do they understand what it means?"
In some areas, circumcision of girls was introduced long after the men's had gone on for years. In a recent Nairobi workshop for journalists, organised by the Association of Media Women in Kenya, Mr Kiboki Kigai was shocked to hear of the physical and psychological effects of circumcision on girls.
"It is time all men who have in one way or another made women undergo the rite apologised. On my part, I am truly sorry," said Kigai, whose Sabaot community practises girls' circumcision. More converts like him will be an asset in the campaign.But although the practice has taken root in many communities, it is not a religious affair; it has no basis in Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or Islam. "It is not even cultural," says Somali model Waris Dirie.
"It is good to outlaw it so that people may know that the law protects them, but it is more important to change the people's attitude."Ironically, as the conference was going on at Kenyatta International Conference Centre, two Maasai sisters who were poorly circumcised two weeks ago at the instigation of their brother, were recuperating at Nairobi Women's Hospital.
"This thing must be brought to an end," says Mrs Linah Kilimo, the minister in the Vice-President's Office.Although two of the women circumcisers have been arrested, the girls' brother is still at large.It is Mrs Kilimo's belief that if the Maputo Protocol is ratified, the fight will be taken a notch higher and, eventually, wiped out in Kenya.President Kibaki has indicated that Kenya will soon ratify the agreement, which means that it will join the Comoros, the first African country to do so since it was adopted in July 2003 in Mozambique by the heads of state attending an African Union Summit.
Libya and Rwanda have also ratified it.
For the pact to enter into force and become law, 15 states must ratify it. Then women will enjoy the provisions which, apart from protecting them from harmful traditional practices such as female circumcision, include the right to life, integrity and security of a person, and the rights to participate in politics and decision-making, inheritance, food security and adequate housing.
Under the pact, states are required to prevent exploitation and abuse of women in advertising and pornography. They are also entitled to a paid maternity leave in both the private and public sectors. Discrimination or any different treatment based on sex is criminal.
Although ratification is the first step in changing the law, states must implement it first to ensure women enjoy the provisions, says Ms Anne Gathumbi of Coalition of Women Against Violence (COVAW), the organisation spearheading the ratification campaign.
There is hope that the war against female genital cutting will soon be won. Mrs Kilimo testifies to this as she belongs to the Marakwet community, a people notorious for the belief that for a woman to be a true member, she must be circumcised. Yet they elected her to Parliament in 2002.She is a good example to the communities which still think that an uncircumcised woman is a lesser human
