The declaration of an Islamic Fatwa against Female Genital Mutilation in Oslo last week could not have come at a more fitting time. News about how parents still allow their daughters to be subjected to Female Genital Mutilation in some parts of Kenya, is both shameful and illegal.
The conference that unanimously declared a fatwa against female genital mutilation in Oslo was organized by Pan African Women’ Organization and Musukubeng Kaffo (MKBK). The conference delegates agreed that there was an urgent need to use all methods available to eradicate the practice globally.
The need for this fatwa became shockingly apparentwhen we learned this week) that, within the course of a week, “hundred of girls are believed to have crossed over to neighboring Tanzania for fear of being forced to undergo female genital mutilation”. According to the Kenyan newspaper The Standard , hundreds of girls, some as young as ten years old, have fled their homes to avoid a traditional rite of passage where they would be subjected to mutilation of their genital organs, commonly referred to as female genital mutilation (FGM).
Even after the Kenyan Government issued a warning saying that any person conducting FGM would be arrested and prosecuted, preparations for this kind of backward practice was still going on in the Kuria area, says one resident, a Mr. John Gichoro of Nyabohanse village.
Nyanza Provincial Commissioner Mr. Francis Mutie has described the rite of FGM as retrogressive and archaic. Mutie argues that the practice is denying Kenyan girls a fulfilled and healthy life and he urges the residents in the area to abstain from practicing FGM. There are no positive health effects of this backward practice, he adds.
The Standard also reports that a number of organizations fighting the atrocity in the region have been urged to establish secluded camps for fugitives of FGM. Here, girls would be educated on alternative rites of passage:
“Kuria Western District Children’s Officer John Langat said his office in collaboration with a number of NGOs, the police, the provincial administration and churches, had taken the necessary measures to protect girls from being forced to face the knife. “We are aware of those planning to launch this rite within the Abagumbe clan but we are not going to allow the infringement upon the rights of their daughters this time round,” Mr Langat warned.”
The Kuria community in Kenya has four clans which all of them practice the outlawed rite. This clan is also represented in Tanzania and these are also reported to practice FGM. The girls who have escaped to Tanzania are however reported to have gone to a safer area.