This archive report was first published on 12 June 2020.
On June 12, 2020, the Kenyan court will resume hearing a case challenging the constitutional validity of the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, also known as the Anti-FGM Act.
Dr. Tatu Kamau, the petitioner, argues that the law is unconstitutional as it violates the rights of adult consenting women to culture, health, and equality.
However, the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) and the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS (KELIN) will argue that the law is constitutional and compliant with international standards.
Matilda Lasseko, ISLA's Violence Against Women Lawyer, stated, 'The question of consent by an adult woman to undergo the cut shouldn't come into play. The reality for majority of the girls and women who are cut is one where they face insurmountable social and cultural pressure to undergo the cut.'
She added, 'By enacting the Anti-FGM Act, the State has acted in compliance with its duty to protect, prevent and respond to FGM as a form of violence against women and girls and eliminate a cultural practice universally recognized as being harmful.'
