Slowly, painstakingly, an idea is making headway in the lands of the Masai, along the Tanzanian border in southern Kenya, and a difficult shift of consciousness has begun. An idea concerning an ancestral tradition, female genital mutilation (FGM), which continues to be widely practiced on young girls from this community, despite having been banned by law in 2011.
"In the past, among the Masai, [female genital mutilation] was a major traditional ceremony before marriage. But since the practice has been criminalized, it has been transformed into a clandestine, violent crime, carried out at night, out of sight," said Parsanka Sayianka, an activist in the struggle against FGM from Kajiado county in southern Kenya, which has one of the highest rates of FGM in the country.
While Kenyan national statistics show a decline in the number of cases from 21% of women in 2014 to 15% in 2022, women's rights groups point to the lack of effort by a passive Kenyan police force. Arrests of perpetrators of FGM are rare; and convictions almost non-existent.
While a visibly optimistic Kenyan government has claimed to be able to eradicate FGM by 2022, the United Nations estimates that 574,000 young Kenyan women could still be subjected to the practice by 2030. While UN Women rolled out a major awareness-raising campaign on gender-based violence until December 10, 2023, several organizations have attempted to initiate a revolution in people's thinking with the development of "Alternative Rites of Passage" (ARP) to adulthood.
In place of the traditional ceremony, consisting of the removal of the clitoris, labia minora and labia majora, NGOs are proposing a different type of ritual: Week-long workshops to educate people about the short- and long-term health risks women face, and the violations of their rights. At the end of these gatherings, the girls' entry into adulthood is symbolically celebrated.
The humanitarian organization AMREF Health Africa, which has been established in Kajiado since 2009, is proud to have thereby supported over 3,500 adolescent girls in this county of 1.2 million inhabitants, 775 of whom took part in the alternative rites of passage in 2022. "In 2009, the prevalence rate [of FGM] stood at 78% in the county, compared with 55% today, thanks in particular to our efforts in the villages," said regional director Denge Lugayo.
Yet AMREF is treading on thin ice. The organization is tackling a dual code of silence: Firstly, that which is due to the practice's illegality; and secondly, that which is associated with the power of the traditional Masai chiefs, who decide on all aspects of daily life within their communities.
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