FGM traditions run deeper than Kenyan law passed in 2011

Draped in animal skin and covered in white paint, four teenage girls squat over large stones in a remote village in Baringo County, after undergoing female genital mutilation which was banned three years ago.

Many Kenyan women have undergone the ordeal, seen as a rite of passage for girls despite government efforts to end it.

“It’s a tradition that has been happening forever,” the father of one of the girls, who asked not to be named fearing reprisal from the authorities, said at the isolated Pokot settlement not far from Marigat town.

“The girls are circumcised to get married. It’s a girl’s transition into womanhood.”

The girls spent the night huddled around a fire in a grass-thatched house as local women gathered to sing and dance in support.

At its most extreme, FGM involves cutting off  part of the genitalia to reduce a woman’s sexual desire.

Practitioners use anything from razor blades to broken glass and scissors. The United Nation’s Children’s Fund says more than 125 million women have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where FGM is carried out.

It is heavily practiced among the Pokot community, and a mother of one of the girls believes it is a sign of strength.

“The pain will make her strong. She can show the rest of the community that she can endure it,” the woman said after having her daughter circumcised by a Pokot elder. “I’m proud of my daughter for doing this.”

MYRIAD OF CHALLENGES

Kenyan law provides for life imprisonment when a girl dies from the procedure, which in addition to excruciating pain, can cause hemorrhage, shock and complications in childbirth.

The government set up a prosecution unit in March and is currently investigating 50 cases.

Officials are optimistic they can force a change in attitude but still worry that the practice is too ingrained for legal threats to have an impact.

“We face a myriad of challenges,” said Christine Nanjala, who heads the prosecuting unit. “You will find the practice is

— Reuters