Provincial
Cult blamed for growth in female circumcision
Mrs Jane Lanoi displays a tool used to carry out female circumcision. She preaches against the rite, practiced by many pastoral communities. Photo/FILE
Posted Tuesday, November 22 2011 at 21:47
A religious cult has been blamed for rising cases of female circumcision in Naivasha and its environs.
Women say although the tradition is almost extinct in the area, the cult is forcing its members to circumcise girls.
Most take place in Naivasha, Maai Mahiu, Kinangop and Narok.
It is expected that there will be an increase in female circumcision cases in Narok and the rest of Maasai Land because they hold on strongly to their culture.
Councillor Esther Njeri has mobilised people in these areas to fight what is considered in the region to be an important and ancient rite of passage from girl to womanhood.
They will be seeking to arrest traditional circumcisers who force young girls to be circumcised.
Ms Njeri said that they had started persuading members of the religious organisation to end the circumcisions.
She said many school-age children had come out and confessed that they were forced.
“The children call us and tell us when they learn that their parents are planning to circumcise them. So far, we have rescued more than 10 girls from members of the religious sect,” she said.
The councillor said that most of the girls are circumcised during the December school holidays.
She said that in some Maasai primary schools, girls are told to write a composition on the dangers of female circumcision, Ms Njeri said.
Naivasha district commissioner Hellen Kiilu cautioned women who still practise the female cut that they were breaking the law.
She said a crackdown had been launched to curb the practice.
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Submitted by 13579Posted December 13, 2011 06:09 PM
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Submitted by si_cheki_ovyo_ovyo
Low class journalism, so what about the 'cult'? Bure kabisa!
Posted December 02, 2011 08:03 AM -
Submitted by crmstpr357
"A religious cult"-"the cult"-"the religious organization"-"the religious sect". If the writer has done her diligence and has researched the story then why has she not named the group to whom she has referred to FOUR times in this otherwise good article?
Posted November 28, 2011 03:31 AM -
Submitted by anita2011
Why do we keep going backwards? Our aim is to catch up with 1st world countries in modernising our country and this has to start with getting rid of primitive ways an example of this is genital mutilation. In the third world we in Kenya have the potential to be a leader of modernisation but we keep clinging to these ridiculous beliefs.
Posted November 25, 2011 10:08 PM -
Submitted by TLCTugger
Any society which tolerates male genital cutting has no moral high ground from which to advocate for the end of female genital cutting. In 2009 WHO researchers Wawer/Gray reported that the Ugandan men they circumcised were 50% MORE likely to infect their female partners with deadly HIV.
Posted November 23, 2011 09:15 PM
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Weather its cult or not lets not chopp off women glitoris.Lets condemn this game so our beloved girls can grow in happyness its not only backwardness but also make women testless