Cut against their will: How FGM leaves lasting scars on girls, women

A Maasai man walks past a mural against FGM and child marriage at Narok County Referral Hospital on December 3, 2025. [Tony Karumba / AFP]

In December 1983, 10-year-old Fauzia* (not her real name) travelled with relatives to her family’s ancestral home. Born in Mombasa and raised in Nairobi, she had family roots in Isiolo. She did not know the visit would change her life.

An aunt held her down as she struggled through a procedure involving the cutting and stitching of her genital tissue. She bled heavily, prompting a relative to arrange for a military doctor to attend to her. The procedure was carried out secretly, she recalls, at a time when efforts to stop the practice were attracting attention.