This archive report was first published on 25 November 2019.
Despite campaigns to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), the practice continues to thrive in the South Rift region. According to reports, circumcisers have shifted their target from young girls to married women and young mothers, in a bid to evade the law protecting children's rights.
Police have arrested at least 20 women who have been circumcised, nine caregivers and circumcisers in a crackdown in the last five days. The arrests were made in Bomet, Nakuru, and Narok counties, where the practice is most prevalent.
Records indicate that eight of those circumcised at Kipsegon village in Kapkesosio Location, Chepalungu constituency are aged between 21 and 24 years. In Konoin constituency, 17 girls are said to have undergone the cut at Chelemet village, while 15 others were saved by administrators in the region.
Bomet County Director for Gender, Rose Chepkorir, said that the county has trained 40 children's rights champions who have been instrumental in sensitizing residents on the dangers of clinging to retrogressive cultural practices that are harmful to girls.
Ms. Chepkorir added that it is unfortunate that majority of those who have been circumcised are either married or are young mothers. They have been forced to undergo the rite in order to be accepted in a society where uncircumcised married women are looked down upon even by fellow women.
As part of the 16 days of activism against gender violence, the county will run a mentorship programme targeting school girls in Konoin, Bomet East, Bomet Central, Chepalungu, and Sotik sub-counties. The programme aims to benefit more than 1,500 girls from 31 zones in the county.
Rift Valley Regional County Commissioner George Natembeya has directed administrators in the region to enforce the laws protecting the girl child and ensure perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted.
