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| Africa Horn |
| Parents disown girls for evading 'the cut' |
| 2011-02-08 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation was marked on Sunday, but in Mt Elgon District there was little to celebrate. Many girls have been forced to cut short their studies and married off at a tender age while some of them are still in hiding, disowned by their parents after running away to avoid undergoing the rite. In December, more than 100 girls targeted to face the knife in region were rescued by Maendeleo ya Wanawake officials. The girls from Kamuneru Location - some as young as nine - had been threatened with death if they tried to escape. They underwent guidance and counselling after their escape but they are yet to fully recover from the harrowing experience. "They said I should never go back home again because I beat feet the cut," said nine-year-old Nelly Cherono amid sobs. Twelve-year-old Faith Chepkemoi, who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education last year, said she was supposed to get married soon after she healed. Not many girls in the area are left to pursue education beyond Standard Eight. And Lily Chebet, 10, was taken to her grandmother's house to be circumcised. "They said that if I wasn't circumcised, I would never get married and that no man would ever want me," she said. Chebet was told that education was not meant for women because they were supposed to get married and take care of their husbands. "I want to finish my education and become a lawyer so that I can protect maidens of tender years from my home area," she said. Mt Elgon District Maendeleo ya Wanawake chairperson Jennifer Mbatian said some girls were traumatised as they had undergone preparations for the rite. Mrs Mbatian appealed to the Sabaot community to abandon the practice. "Female genital mutilation is a monster destroying the destiny of the girl child," she said. Authorities in the district say FGM is still practised despite government efforts to end it. Uncircumcised women are generally looked down upon and discriminated against. Therefore, many maidens of tender years agree to undergo the rite of passage so that they can be accepted by the community. According to the latest Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, the prevalence of FGM, which involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia by traditional circumcisers, lies at 27.1 per cent. Some 48.8 per cent of circumcised women falling between the ages of 45 to 49 and 14.6 per cent being girls aged between 15 to 19. Kenya has recorded milestones in fighting the traditional rite, including passing and implementing legal instruments such as the National Policy for the Abandonment of FGM/C, the Children's Act of 2001 and the Sexual Offences Act of 2006. The Prohibition of FGM Bill 2010 was approved by Speaker Kenneth Marende for publication by the Government Printer and will soon be tabled in Parliament for debate. Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi, who will table the Bill, says: "If this Bill is approved by Parliament and made into law, then it could be the biggest milestone yet." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > DALIT GIRL'S LIMBS [Arms, Legs] CHOPPED OFF FOR RESISTING GANG RAPE IN UP, INDIA [UP = Uttar Pradesh].Inter-family blood feud, "DALIT" = AN "UN-TOUCHABLE" Person as per India's notorious Caste System. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-02-08 21:31 |
| #6 I'd recommend ...forkorectomies for many I've seen waddling around here. Never knew they made uniforms large enough for some of these "soldiers" ....both male and female. AR 600-9 must have been thrown in the rubbish bin. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-02-08 14:03 |
| #5 @ Crazy Fool... maybe that's what the 'women' in CODE PINKO really need.... clitorectomies . Might just solve their problems and calm them down a bit. |
| Posted by: Mikey Hunt 2011-02-08 13:56 |
| #4 You would need to have an international system where they actually cared about real issues and be willing to enforce rules rather than blaming the US and Israel for all the world's problems. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2011-02-08 10:32 |
| #3 Shouldn't the parents of the disowned girls be punished -- first for trying to force the girls to get an illegal procedure, then for driving them out of the house? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-02-08 10:27 |
| #2 Not to worry - I'm sure that NOW, Code Pink[o], and the other 'defenders of the female gender' will raise an overwhelming ruckus to stop this any |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-02-08 08:28 |
| #1 A large number of Females whom undergo this ancient cultural rite repor often suffer from Life-, Reproduction-threatening infections throughout their normal life, espec iff they are unable to advance into a higher econ class. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-02-08 00:47 |