Little known Kuria magistrate giving FGM crooks sleepless nights

Seven parents were last year jailed for six years after they pleaded guilty of aiding, abetting and failing to report female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kuria region. The case exposed the renewed fight in scaling down the deep-rooted cultural practice.

The seven admitted to both counts of the charges on December 27, 2021, even as the government intensified a crackdown on the retrogressive cultural practice that saw scores arrested.

Although the wheels of justice may have been slow on FGM perpetrators after hundreds of girls were rescued and parents arrested, the fight against the vice has undoubtedly taken a new twist with the entry of Anne Karimi. She is a magistrate based in Kehancha law courts in Kuria West Sub-county.

Latest data from the courts indicate that 57 parents are on remand after being charged for aiding and abetting FGM last December, where many girls faced the knife.

All the FGM cases fell on Ms Karimi, who has carved a niche on gender-related cases.

Unknown to many, the Kehancha resident magistrate has been dispensing justice to victims of gender-based violence (GBV) since her posting to the courts in November, 2020.

Ms Karimi, who was admitted to the bar as an advocate in 2011, curved a niche on gender-related cases. Her experience has been impactful in transforming that Kuria community, which undermined the female gender has for ages.

Justice Joyce Aluoch

“Since childhood, I wanted to be a voice to the voiceless, especially the children. I drew my inspiration from Lady Justice Joyce Aluoch (a Kenyan lawyer who served as Judge of the International Criminal Court from 2009 until 2018) who kept fighting for the rights of children,” she tells nation.africa during an interview at her office.

She adds: “Her relentless efforts in fighting for children’s rights inspired me a lot. That’s where the dream to be a human rights defender cropped up. I also saw a lot of injustices, growing up, especially on land, succession matters and extreme gender-based violence.”

In 2017, Ms Karimi joined the Judiciary and was posted to Voi law courts. Upon her deployment to Kehancha Law courts in 2020, her worst fears came to play; this was at the peak of FGM.

“Being at the decision making seat is always for me an opportunity to fight for the girls undergoing such harmful cultural practices and uphold their rights," she says.

Hardly could a day pass without her handling either a GBV case or an FGM one. At some point the cases became so rampant with several girls being brought to court after being rescued from the cut.

At times the culprits are freed for lack of incriminating evidence. This always poses a huge setback for the victims who feel like they have been denied justice.

Open defiance

Unlike in Taita Taveta County where she previously worked, FGM cases in Kuria region are rampant with the vice being practiced in open defiance.

So deep is the culture that locals, until recently, were never bothered by police presence and would parade the initiates, mostly girls, along the roads amidst chants and frenzy.

“I came to learn that those who failed to undergo the cut were branded an insulting and demeaning name Omosagane, loosely translating to an uncircumcised girl. It is a term used to psychologically coerce young girls to undergo the cut.

“At times, the girls would be threatened that no man would pay their bride price, when they reach the marriage age, if they failed to undergo the cut. This made most of them opt for it oblivious of the health implications involved,” she notes.

Although police often make several arrests during the FGM season, Ms Karimi maintains that the prosecution has faced difficulties with these cases since majority compromise the victims beforehand.

“There must be proof of nexus of parents being actively involved in the FGM cases for the prosecution to secure a conviction.  Unfortunately, the victims are compromised in most cases, thus fail to testify against the accused, mostly their parents. Some even give false evidence to protect their close relatives,” she notes.

Utmost secrecy

Section 29, of the anti-FGM Act 32 of 2011 imposes a fine of Sh200,000 or a minimum jail term of three years for FGM-related offences.

Kehancha law courts have so far handled 58 FGM cases with 20 of them heard and determined.

To scale down the vice, Ms Karimi imposes hefty fines and deterrent sentences after it emerged that perpetrators would bail themselves out and carry on with the practice in cases where lean bond terms were issued.

When the community realized that aiding and abetting FGM and other related offenses  could attract up to six years imprisonment and hefty fines, they developed cold feet and have taken to practice FGM in utmost secrecy, while many have abandoned the practice altogether.

Police reports show that FGM is still being practiced although it has gradually scaled down.

The children officers in the region recommend that pending the taking of the victims' testimonies, the victims who are very young children in need of care and protection are placed in children's homes to avoid being compromised whenever their parents were charged.

Children’s officers in the region have recommended that young victims with pending testimonies, and who are in need of care and protection, are placed in children's homes to avoid being compromised whenever their parents are charged.

"It is my prayer that FGM ends completely. It has no place in modern day society. It’s inhuman, degrading, torturous and utterly harmful to the health and well-being of the Kenyan girl child," she says. 

 [email protected]