Following various seminars conducted by NGOs to mark the 8 March International Womens Day, 200 female circumcisers from Kenyas Rift Valley Province have abandoned their tools of trade and vowed to fight the deeply rooted custom, Irin News writes.
Habil Oloo, a programme officer at the Kenya National Focal Point for FGM (female genital mutilation), which coordinates nationwide activities against the practice, said the development was the fruit of years of struggle by Kenyan NGOs against entrenched traditional attitudes among communities.
FGM is outlawed in Kenya under the Childrens Act, which was enacted in 2002. But the provisions of the Act are unclear as to the kind of punishment that could be meted out to offenders, leaving the sentencing at the discretion of magistrates, who have tended to issue only light sentences, according to Nzomo.
The Childrens Bill (as the Act is popularly known in Kenya) is very clear on FGM. But this is an area where we also need clear maximum and minimum sentences for offenders, she said.
Widely practised in most African countries, FGM is rooted in discrimination against women, and violates the basic rights of the child, feminists say. Apart from being responsible for various reproductive health problems among women, FGM also contributes to high rates of school dropouts among girls and early marriages.
Kilde: Irin News
