by KIRSTIN KELLEYJUDIE KABERIA
More than two thousand members of the ethnic Maasai community gathered in Kajiado to protest against Kenyan laws criminalising female genital mutilation. PHOTO/Muthoni Njuki/Capital FM
Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) says he suspects government-appointed local chiefs were behind recent demonstrations against the criminalisation of female genital mutilation (FGM).
More than 2,000 women and men from the Maasai community gathered in Kajiado, south of Nairobi, on June 12 to protest against a 2011 law specifically banning FGM. It was the second such demonstration held in the town this month.
FGM is also illegal under the 2001 Children’s Act, and a new bill on domestic violence due to be tabled in parliament is to introduce stiffer penalties for those who practice it.
As well as the psychological consequences of pain, trauma and mutilation, FGM poses significant health risks. In addition to infection risks, it increases dangers associated with childbirth and denies women their sexual rights. (See Kenya Battles Female Genital Mutilation.)
Despite the ban, FGM is still widely practiced by a number of different ethnic groups in Kenya.
According to Adan Duale, majority leader in the lower house of parliament, 98 per cent of girls in what was formerly North Eastern Province undergo FGM.
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