When scales fell from the eyes of an FGM champion
Elizabeth Chepkorir, 72, who once was a traditional circumciser.
What you need to know:
- During peak seasons, particularly school holidays, Ms Chepkorir would perform the cut on hundreds of girls.
- The pay for a client would be Sh200 to Sh400.
- At some point, she circumcised a heavily pregnant woman who bled profusely and almost lost her life.
- Ms Chepkorir has become an advocate of girls’ education and fights gender-based violence.
She began as a volunteer in 1990 and now, at 72, Elizabeth Chepkorir has lost count of the number of girls she has circumcised.
For three decades, Ms Chepkorir was the most sought-after traditional circumciser in the Rift Valley.
But now, she spends most of her time preaching against the practice that earned her fame in Baringo, Nakuru and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
During peak seasons, particularly school holidays, Ms Chepkorir would perform the cut on hundreds of girls in Iten, Kericho, Narok and several other towns.
“Female circumcision was done openly in the 1990s and early 2000s. I would circumcise at least 30 girls and women daily. Due to demand for the cut, some would even be brought to my home,” says Ms Chepkorir, though none of her four children has experienced female genital mutilation or simply FGM.
The pay for a client would be Sh200 to Sh400.
In some instances, parents would simply offer her alcohol and food.
“I was never sober even when I did my work and everybody knew I loved busaa (traditional brew). I had not placed any fixed amount that I was to be paid though I got satisfied with anything above Sh200, food or liquor,” Ms Chepkorir recalls.
The money was like a curse. The circumciser lived miserably and her children struggled to get food, education and other necessities.
Condemned
“None of my four daughters supported FGM. They actually condemned me. At some point, two of them threatened to run away from home if I continued circumcising girls,” Ms Chepkorir says.
Life took a drastic turn when her husband died.
“After my husband’s death in 1992, I went fully into circumcising girls and women. I did so to provide for my family. Things were tough and I had little choice. I was bright and full of life,” she says.
“The older women loved me because I spent most of my time with them. They taught me a lot of things.”
While Ms Chepkorir had mastered the operation and knew the herbs to use on patients whenever they experienced excessive bleeding, one incident almost turned tragic.
At some point, she circumcised a heavily pregnant woman who bled profusely and almost lost her life.
The ugly incident had little effect on her trade since some communities in the Rift Valley and parts of south Nyanza view FGM as a girl’s transition to womanhood.
An NGO Ms Chepkorir works for says she still lives with regrets for having subjected many women and girls to FGM and risking their lives.
“Some members of the Kalenjin, Kisii, Kuria and Kikuyu communities do not respect a woman that has not undergone the cut,” Ms Chepkorir says, adding that a number of women sought her services because of stigma.
“They are viewed as pariahs for going against the values and practices of their communities.
Advocate of girls’ education
Ms Chepkorir has become an advocate of girls’ education and fights gender-based violence.
“Discrimination in education is a cause and a consequence of deep-rooted differences in our traditional societies. It is important to have a society that is fair and equal as that improves all other public value outcomes,” says the reformed circumciser who now works with State agencies, NGOs and other players in their anti-FGM programmes.
FGM cases are still high among nomadic pastoralist communities, a situation Ms Chepkorir attributes to strong traditional beliefs and lack of knowledge.
As expected, the septuagenarian’s decision to abandon FGM left many elders and traditionalists unhappy.
Ms Chepkorir lost countless friends while some relatives and neighbours accused her of turning her back on the community.
“Proponents of FGM no longer want to associate with me. Some even want to see me drop dead,” she says.
“Despite the hostility, I will soldier on and pray for them to accept the fact that I am a changed person.”
Ms Chepkorir receives support from Dandelion Africa, an NGO based in Nakuru, to reach out to the society and spread the anti-FGM message.
The UN says 125 million girls and women in 29 African and Middle East countries have been circumcised. Sudan has criminalised FGM.
