Hits and misses as 2022 FGM deadline nears

When President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the national policy for the eradication of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in 2019, he committed to ending by 2022.

Since then, the government has undertaken robust strategies to combat FGM, which has so far affected 21 per cent of women and girls aged 15-49.

Gender activists and anti-FGM crusaders have lauded the campaign, which they say has so far realised a number of successes. They, however, identify gaps that still persist and are impeding the realisation of the presidential directive.

Successes

One strategy the state has employed is to rope in elders from the 22 FGM hotspot counties in the fight against the outlawed practice.

Already, elders in West-Pokot, Marsabit, Narok, Kajiado and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties have denounced the cut, terming it retrogressive, and vowing to join hands with the government to eradicate it.

The Ministry of Public Service and Gender and Anti-FGM Board have been undertaking a campaign to prevail circumcisers to abandon the illegal practice.

After succeeding in converting them, the State then uses them as anti-FGM champions in their respective communities.

The Anti-FGM Board has also partnered with religious leaders to fight the vice.

The agency views the clergy as crucial people in the community as they interact with most members of the society and are highly respected.

Addressing clerics from Narok and Kajiado counties recently, Anti-FGM Board Chairperson Agnes Pareiyo said the clergy will be tasked with preaching to the residents on the dangers of circumcising girls.

“The church will be instrumental in preaching to residents on the dangers of circumcising girls,” she said.

The State has also roped in boda-boda operators in the hotspot counties. They too, have been trained as change agents in their respective jurisdictions.

Hurdles

However, despite the achievements, there have been challenges, with local administrators' laxity among those cited.

During a recent meeting called to review the progress of an ongoing campaign in Kuria, dubbed StopKuriaFGMNow, Gregory Rioba a gender activist in the region, took issue with some chiefs, referring to them as FGM sympathisers.

“Some chiefs failed us. Even after reporting to them cases of FGM that were happening in their jurisdictions, no action was taken. Action needs to be taken against such administrators,” said Mr Rioba.

The Kuria community has one of the highest FGM prevalence in Kenya at 84 per cent. In 2020, 10 local chiefs and their assistants were suspended for abetting the practice.

As part of heightened efforts, the government in 2019 arrested three other chiefs in Kajiado and Meru counties for complicity.

Cross-border practice

Emerging trends such as medicalisation of FGM; girls cutting themselves; increased cross-border FGM; and cutting of married women, young girls and infants have also undermined the campaigns.

Cross-border FGM has particularly gained prominence, with girls living in areas bordering neighbouring countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia, sneaking out to be cut to circumvent the local punitive law.

Anti-FGM Board CEO Bernadette Loloju, in an earlier interview with nation.Africa, said cross-border FGM is rampant and poses a major challenge. She said the government had beefed up security and put stringent cross-border measures in place to tackle the problem. She warned parents and elders against allowing their girls to be cut as they would be held liable.

It is, however, not all doom and gloom after the five countries in the East African region late last year launched a joint action plan aimed at taming cross-border FGM.

The action plan entails development of a comprehensive programme to strengthen the urgent work of implementing regional human rights instruments for elimination of FGM. It also constitutes a framework at the regional level for state and non-state actors to enhance prevention, protection, and prosecution.

Funding

Inadequate funding is another major concern. Eluis Muindi, the programmes officer at the Kenya Men Engage Alliance, told nation.africa that even though inadequate cash has been an issue, lack of proper coordination of campaigns is also to blame.

“Even with the resources, proper coordination has been lacking which is hurting the war against the vice,” he said.

Eva Komba, a gender and development expert, noted challenges related to past funding. She added societal issues linked to misinterpretation of religious text to justify the practice, as well as community attitudes.

Inadequate funding could, however, end following last year’s launch by the President of a roadmap to accelerate national efforts to end gender-based violence and FGM. It proposed a significant increase in funding, dedicating $23 million (Sh2.6 billion) by this year and $50 million (Sh5.5 billion) by 2026.

Public Service and Gender Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia, in a statement to commemorate International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, reiterated the government’s commitment to the war.

Prof Kobia said prosecution of perpetrators and alternative rites of passage are key among the multi-sectorial strategies to end FGM this year.

A 2020 report by Unicef states that Kenya’s progress towards eradicating FGM is stronger than that of other nations in eastern and southern Africa. It states that more than four million girls and women in the country have undergone FGM.

Kenya outlawed FGM in 2011, alongside offences of abetting the vice, possessing FGM tools and failing to report a circumciser. The law stipulates a prison sentence of not less than three years or a fine of Sh200,000, or both. A person who causes the death of a girl through FGM can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

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