The last time *Sarah (not her real name) had a domestic scuffle with the husband; he nearly took life out of her.
“He came home drunk in the wee hours of the night, beat me up and stabbed me with a knife,” recalls Sarah as she chokes back tears. It was then that she made a decision to leave her matrimonial home.
Sarah recounts that it was not the first time that she had been abused by the husband; on several occasions, she was subjected to a slap, a punch, a kick… and to tap it all intimidation and coercion that only become worse during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our first born daughter couldn’t take the abuse, she ran away from home. It got to a point where my husband wanted to rape her,” says the 55-year-old mother of four.
Before the pandemic, Sarah was a laundry woman, she would move from house to house doing laundry and other domestic chores, when the pandemic struck, no one was willing to employ her even for other menial jobs. She says, the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the worst moments in her life.
Sarah is however not alone, her experiences mirror that of many women and girls across Kenya whose lives have been affected by the wave of intimate partner violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Like Sarah, *Pendo (not her real name) was gang raped on her way home from the market. She had crossed over to Mombasa mainland from Likoni where she usually hawks cassava and coconut to make ends meet. The event of that fateful night left her with a life threatening hemorrhage.
In April, the government and women rights organizations, CREAW among them issued an alert of the increasing cases of gender based violence meted on women and girls. The recent study by the National Crime Research Center indicated a 92 percent increase in cases of GBV in the period of January and June 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The nature of cases reported include, rape, assault, murder, sexual offences, defilement, child marriage, psychosocial torture and child neglect.
In the wake of this, CREAW with the support from Oxfam in Kenya adapted its intervention in Nairobi and Mombasa to provide support services to survivors of gender based violence like Sarah and Pendo. Mainly, the intervention targeted women and girls from informal settlements with cash reliefs to aid them in meeting basic necessities such as food, water, rent and healthcare for them and their families.
Through our European Union in Kenya – funded #SafetyNets program, 15,793 households have benefitted from monthly cash assistance.
“The first thing I did when I received the cash from CREAW is to pay rent and the rest of the monies I bought food, mask and sanitizer,” says Sarah who has also received a resilient fund from CREAW to establish a business that would sustain her and her four children.
Currently Sarah and Pendo also receiving continuous psychosocial support services to enable them heal and build resilience during the pandemic and thereafter.
Dressed in purple and white; a sign of royalty and peace- they all came to witness the climax of the journey they had travelled so long. 12th September 2019 it a was! A new dawn reckoned and the little known women group, Wima Women Empowerment network (WIMA), was now a fully-fledged community based organisation.
Launch of WIMA in Kilifi. PHOTO/CREAW
Three years ago, 33 WIMA members came together with a soul purpose to eliminate cases of gender based violence (GBV) that was ailing communities in Kilifi. At the time, GBV matters were only spoken in undertones and most cases would go unreported because of the cultural constrictions.
It is such barriers that also continue to chain women voices- and when the silence was too loud, WIMA’s actions to change societal attitudes and norms became louder. Through their network, they continued to build momentum, galvanising support from the various community (chiefs, Kaya elders, women) and county government structures to free women from the chains of gender inequalities.
And as Helda Tujara tells us, the community dialogues they have held in the community have created spaces for men and women to reflect on power imbalances at family level and how best to parent children- giving them equal educational opportunities for better future.
“Pictorial exhibitions showcasing the effects of domestic violence have helped stimulate conversations, educated communities and translated into change of perceptions and community support in actions geared towards addressing violence against women and girls,” a happy Helda tells us.
Unveiling of the WIMA registration certificate. The organisation is now a fully established community based organisation. PHOTO/CREAW
Helda and other members of WIMA are proud to have been supported by the Haki Yetu Jukumu Letu project implemented by CREAW in Kilifi and Meru Counties with the support from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kenya.
Through the project, WIMA members were trained on the laws that appertain to gender based violence, citizen-led social accountability, budget monitoring and accountability. From the knowledge, they have built collective agency, risen to break the silence and demanded for accountability in GBV service delivery.
Helda who has been the chairlady of WIMA since its onset, explains to us that the passion to protect women and girls from the scourge of GBV drove them to work with a unity of purpose.
PHOTO/CREAW
“We wanted girls to thrive and women to live in peaceful households with their families.
Currently, the skyrocketing teen pregnancy statistics hoovers over our heads. We must start over and parent our children properly,” says Helda noting that it is that moment that actors, parents and community as a whole took action.
As the chairlady, she speaks strongly on inclusivity. “Women and girls are a critical mass in communities. Thus, they also have a voice in the decisions that affects the larger community. We do it not for us but for the benefit of the entire community,” she says.
At the core of their work is empowerment; as they strengthen their knowledge and build confidence on community work, they have also ensured that other line stakeholders and county structures are enjoined in their activities.
“As GBV champions, we are well known in the community and the county also recognizes us. During the budget making processes, we are given chance to participate and present our issues,” says Sophia Suleiman also a longtime member of WIMA. Such endeavours have helped in improving government responsiveness to the needs of women and girls.
For the first time in Kilifi since the onset of the devolved government, a fully fledged gender department was established owing to the efforts of WIMA. And as Sophia tells us, theirs is a vision that calls for a responsive government and a supportive community to address the plight of survivors.
“Among us, are also the referral champions who continuously receive cases from communities
Last year, WIMA was among the stakeholders appointed by the County Government of Kilifi to look into the issue of teen pregnancy- and even though the report of the task force is yet to be made public, they are happy to be part of the team that would deliver change to many young girls in Kilifi.
“We hold conversations with bodaboda riders to change their behaviours since they have been the largest perpetrators of sexual violence against children. With that, we are making them champions and defenders of the rights of women and girls to reduce child pregnancies,” says Saumu Mwadime who represents WIMA at the teen pregnancy task force.
WIMA’s progressive endeavours are not only felt by the women and girls but the entire community. They lobbied and advocated for good infrastructure within their localities to improve safety and security. Last year, their actions saw the establishment of the Chasimba Police station- the first in Chonyi since time immemorial.
Apart from that, they have also been supporting survivors through their legal journeys; providing psychosocial support and legal information. These has gone along way in helping survivors navigate the often tedious justice system, hold perpetrators accountable for their actions and help survivors heal from the harm done to them.
Fast forward, here they are- living in the moment and helping their communities build sensitivity to the rights of women and girls. Continuously, they network with line partners to device local solutions to the emerging issues in the county.
“We have the power and thus change is the only thing that is inevitable. Our work continues,” concludes Laura Wawuda who represents the youthful wing of WIMA.
We, the undersigned Women, Women Associations, Women Rights organizations and Gender Equality Advocates in Kenya, being representatives of women in all their diversity including grass root and rural women, women in the informal settlements, women in Business, Women in Professional Bodies and in all Associations and organizations have taken note of the Action taken by the RT. Hon. Chief Justice , David Maraga issued Monday, 21st September 2020 to His Excellency, the President Uhuru Kenyatta in respect to the dissolution of Parliament for its failure to enact legislation to implementation of the two thirds gender rule as provided for in Article 10 (2), Article 27(6) ; Article 81(b) and Article 100 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
The women of Kenya stand in solidarity with the action taken by the Rt. Hon. Chief Justice on dissolution of parliament. The action by Rt. Hon. Chief Justice is timely and takes cognizance of the challenges that women have faced and continue to face in our quest for inclusivity and equality.
We further note that it is the responsibility of each one of us to remain accountable to our Constitution and the Rule of Law.
We further affirm that the drafters of our Constitution were alive to the patriarchal challenges and difficulties in promoting women’s political leadership and representation in our country.
We note the Rt. Hon. Chief Justice’s decision has taken cognizance of the numerous attempts by Parliament to provide a mechanism for actualizing the gender provision anchored in the Constitution. On all these occasions, Parliament has failed to reach a decision and demonstrated a lack of good will and respect for the rule of law.
We note that by advising, H.E. the President to dissolve the 11th Parliament, Rt. Hon. Chief Justice has acted within the bounds set out in the law, and as espoused in Article 261(7) and in furtherance of our democracy and the rule of law.
The women of Kenya are in full support of the Rt. Hon. Chief Justice’s insistence that the Country must hold everyone accountable for their actions or lack thereof. This is as it should be.
We further highlight the four (4) Court Orders that have been issued directing Parliament to implement the two thirds gender rule within clearly specified time lines. We acknowledge the efforts and attempts that both houses of Parliament have taken on the matter. However, we note that these attempts have not resulted to any outcome as envisaged in the Constitution.
We regret the push-back and voices from Parliament that are misleading Kenyans with the false narrative that the ‘two thirds gender rule: Is not part of the mandate of Parliament; that there is no mechanism to implement this provision; and that it is too costly to implement the two third gender rule.
We note that all these narratives are misleading and point to the challenges that we have encountered and have had to endure with parliament in our attempts to push for enactment of a mechanism for the implementation of the two thirds gender rule.
While women welcome the attempts in Parliament to implement Article 100, we wish to point out that this does not in any way provide for the implementation of the two thirds gender rule as it only deals with limits its focus to the existing seats in Parliament.
We reiterate that the spirit of our Constitution envisages an inclusive Kenya in which all citizens including women, youth, persons with disabilities and other marginalized categories have equal opportunity to socially, economically and politically participate fully in the affairs of our country.
We note that the crisis the country finds itself, unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, is self-afflicted and hence its solution is within our reach.
We further reiterate that Implementing the Constitution of Kenya 2010 in its entirety including the two thirds gender rule is a matter of great interest to all Kenyans. Unfortunately, this crisis did not happen yesterday and has been with us for the last ten years.
We emphasize that the time has come for Kenya to entrench constitutionalism and the rule of law. The hall mark of a democracy is its adherence and fidelity to the Rule of Law and Separation of powers between the various arms of government.
We note that the Two Thirds Gender Rule is not about giving seats to women but it is about creating an inclusive and sustainable society in furtherance to its commitment to the SDGs, the Agenda 2063 and the Vision 2030.
We note that while Kenya has made some great advancements in promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality, the country is lagging behind other countries including Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia and Senegal among others who have embraced gender quotas. Kenya is a leader in many respects except in this area of women’s representation.
We stand on the various promises that His Excellency, the President has made to the women of Kenya including his commitment to ensure that Kenyan women enjoy full political, social and economic rights. Mr. President, the Judiciary and parliament have done their part. The ball is now squarely in your court.
We are confident that H.E, the President will assert himself on this matter and provide leadership that will move this Country forward and entrench Constitutionalism.
Finally, we note that all women and men are equal and it’s the obligation of the leadership to ensure that its citizens enjoy all the rights as guaranteed in the Constitution.
We meet Cecilia Ekeno at a mentorship session she is having with young girls at the Anti-Poaching Unit Dispensary grounds in Burat Ward, Isiolo County. Here, she is having a heart-to-heart talk with the girls about fundamental human rights, including the right to live free from violence and child marriages.
“When schools close, we bring girls together in a safe space and talk to them about their sexual and reproductive health owing to the many cases of teen pregnancy that we have been experiencing in this area,” says Cecilia.
18 year old *Lelerewa present at the mentorship sessions is among the girls whose life changed for the better courtesy of the Inua Mama group.
When a man well known to her defiled her leaving her pregnant; it is the Inua Mama group that came to her aid, supporting her through psychosocial sessions as she journeyed through the legal corridors. Though it took months before the perpetrator was apprehended, the women ensured that justice was served and perpetrator locked behind bars.
“After I gave birth to my son, the women paid part of my school fees and bought school essentials,” says the delighted Lelerewa who is preparing sit for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education later this year.
“Our major challenge however is that the community does not see the need to have girls go to school,” Cecilia says, explaining that such level of discrimination kills the dreams of many young girls.
She notes that the low value attached to girls schooling is tantamount to killing their future and the cycle of acute poverty prevails.
In Isiolo, the deeply embedded cultural practices such as FGM, beading (a tradition in which girls are booked or engaged to older for sexual purposes) and child marriages exposes girls to early sexual debut, health risks and domestic violence.
Cecilia and 18 other members of the Inua Mama group are however working to create safe spaces and communities for girls to go to school and enjoy their full purpose.
Together with her group, Cecilia is part of the vocal women activists who have been trained by CREAW through the Wajibika Project and are now leading conversations in the community to shift away the norms that endangers the life of women and girls in the community.
Apart from the off school conversations with the girls, they have also made it part of their mandate to engage parents and local administration officials to make them part of the solution to the change needed for many girls in the area.
“We realized that we must start the conversations at home then we extend it to the larger community. Our little steps are beginning to cause ripples,” says Cecilia.
Looking at the bigger picture, the women are concerned that to date the county does not have safe homes to shelter girls who face violence in the community. They say, a gender policy for the county will go along way in streamlining a roadmap that would address the systemic issues that promotes violence against women and girls as well as avail resources to bridge the inequality gap in the County.
Sheikh Mohammed Wario listens keenly as fellow villagers take turns to converse about a topic that for long has gone unspoken yet many girls continue to wallow in pain as their right to choice and dignity is taken away.
As the dialogues proceeds, he takes turn to speak out his mind- “ we must tell ourselves the truth that we are destroying the lives of our daughters. I believe we can all be part of the change. Our girls deserve to be in school and not married off,” says the 58-year-old father of nine.
Among the Borana community living in Kina, Isiolo County where Sheikh Wario ails from, girls as young as seven years are forced to undergo genital cutting and married off to elderly men in exchange for goats and camels.
As a Sheikh, he has continuously refused to yield to the pressure to circumcise her three daughters aged 6, 10 and 13 as it is in the norm in many household. A few years ago, he had an opportunity to travel to India where he learnt about women rights issues and was inspired by fellow clerics who were working to protect their wives and daughters from discriminatory cultural practices.
And when he learnt about the teachings on gender based violence done by the Malka Bisanadi Cultural group, he was delighted to join in- bringing along his two wives to the various dialogues to also be enlightened.
Malka Bisanadi Cultural group, is one of the a women-led groups operating in Kina Sub-County of Isiolo, their initiatives cuts across women’s economic empowerment coupled with conversations geared towards eliminating violence against women and girls in the community.
For Wario, the ability for young girls to have a voice on matters regarding their wellbeing is key and as such he teachers young girls in his Madrasa session to be aware of their rights and to speak out on violations. Since he started participating in the community conversations with the women activists, he has taken keen interest in rallying other elderly members of the community to abandon the practice of FGM and give girls a voice over their bodily autonomy.
“As a Sheikh am aware that FGM is not part of Islam, it is just part of the culture that we must do away with,” says the Sheikh noting that Islamic values are intended to safeguard the well being of everyone in the community; women and girls included.
With the anti-FGM campaigns gaining momentum in Kenya, religious leaders like Sheikh Wario plays a crucial role in delinking FGM from the religious aspects that promotes tolerance to the practice and mobilizing communities to lead the fight against it.
Over the last one year, CREAW adopted the use of a community dialogues in FGM in Narok and Isiolo counties which are key FGM hotspots to raise awareness among community members; clerics and council of elders included. In the dialogues, communities discusses emerging trends and the norms that are a threat to the survival of women and girls.
“I am happy when I meet with fellow men in the dialogues. It shows that they too are eager to learn and be part of the change we so desire for the future of our young girls,” he says.
As a Sheikh, he is held in high regards and his opinion is respected community members; as such, he is using his stature and voice to end the age-old practice of FGM.
Until recently, 80-year-old Rukia Isaack was a fervent supporter of the Female Genital Cutting (FGC), which she inculcated across generation as a right of passage to womanhood for all the girls in her community.
“I started circumcising girls at the age of 26 as an economic activity. During school holidays I would circumcise up-to 15 girls in a day,” says Rukia who has since abandoned the cut, all thanks to the house-to-house community conversations conducted by activist like Mumina Elena that is shifting how communities in Isiolo perceive and act to
wards FGC.
Mumina now 34 years old was among the girls who passed through the hands of Rukia. She was 10 years old then. Today, she is dutifully turning the tide, educating her community on the dangers of FGC to save girls from the harrowing ordeal.
And what a better way to cause change than starting with the woman who circumcised her!
“Rukia is a perfect example that ending FGM is possible. I am glad she heed to my call to abandon the cut,” says Mumina.
To Rukia, cutting girls was just like any other cultural ritual not knowing the harm she was causing the lives of many young girls some of them her daughters. In the occasional visits to the households, Mumina purposefully targeted to visit Rukia daily, educating her of the outlawed practice.
This turned out to be the tipping point for Rukia-“I feared going to prison.” Today; she is mobilizing the community against FGM and child marriages. During community dialogues, Rukia reminisces her experiences as a circumciser to persuade her community to abandon the cut.
When we meet on a warm Tuesday afternoon, Mumina is facilitating a community dialogues in Kambi Ordha village where Rukia is among the community members listening keening- her exquisite face is framed by a brightly toned scarf wrapped around her head and neck. She cheerfully grins as her fruity voice invites women; men and the girls gathered to a rather subject that is so dear to her- one that must be spoken out loud!
Months ago, Mumina and her co-activists received trainings from CREAW under the Wajibika Initiative supported by United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women aimed at raising awareness on the dangers associated with FGM and other forms of gender based violence (GBV). It is through the trainings that she also learnt of the various ways to mobilize and rally communities against the gendered restrictions that limit that progress of girls in her community.
“The trainings opened my eyes to the day to day realities of many girls. I knew my starting point would be to change the mindset of the elderly in the community hence the pictorial illustrations came in handy,” explains Mumina in reference to the SASA! poster discussions that guides her conversations with the community on GBV issues.
Karu Ibrahim who lives in Kina Sub-County, 200 kilometers away from where Rukia resides has also downed her circumcision knife as activists continues to galvanize support from community elders, the police, men and women to end the cut. In Kina, the community conversations are also taking shape among the Borana community.
“I learnt that FGC does not help girls in any way. Even though I lost my source of livelihood, I am proud to be a good example to other mothers,” narrates the 43-year-old Karu.
“You know, FGC is something valued among the Boranas. It inculcates a sense of respect. Girls who are not cut are considered dirty,” she adds.
Slowly, we are seeing communities waking up to the reality that girls too reserve the right to make decisions about their bodies and their voices cannot be undervalued anymore among the largely pastoralist community- Makai Mamo, a community activist in Kina tells us.
Apart from the community conversations, the women activists under the auspices of the Wajibika project have also employed the use of radios to reach out to the masses.
“We also hold talks with girls in schools to educate them about FGM and help them talk about their experiences,” says Makai as she explains that it was not easy for girls to speak about the taboo topic but after a series of mentorship talks, girls are now opening up and refusing to be cut.
At 49 years old, Glady Kosgey knows too well the wins of having girls go to school. As a mother, her only hope has been to see her three girls build better futures. Despite the inequalities that many other girls from her community faced in their efforts to gain education, she ensured that her three girls did not undergo FGM and were able to complete their tertiary levels of education. Today, she continues to spread her voice out, traversing through Transmara, Narok County and beyond to raise awareness on the need to have more and more girls from pastoralists communities enrolled in school
“It is sad that many families still view girls as a waste of resources as they would soon be married off,” says Gladys, a renowned women’s rights activist, “I want girls to get the education I never got as a young girl.”
In 2003, Kenya introduced free primary education in a bid to increase enrolment of children: boys and girls in school. This was to put girls and boys at a level playing field in realizing their rights to education. Since then, a number of policies and laws have been domesticated at the national and county levels to bridge the gender gap in access to basic education including enacting a law to end FGM. Despite that, girls ailing from nomadic communities still do not enjoy their right to education.
In 2019, Narok was singled out as the County with the highest number of teen mothers with 40% of girls aged between 10 and 14 forced to sit for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education from their hospital beds as they recuperate from childbirth. This coupled with age-old practice of female genital cutting that force girls out of school as they are married off to well-off elderly men in exchange for cows.
Against this, Gladys and other activists enjoined in the community mobilization efforts united to galvanize support and fundraise for school fees and school essentials for 111 students in the area who were transitioning to secondary schools.
“My ears are always out for new opportunities for girls. When I got wind of the Presidential bursary that targeted needy children in the county, I mobilized fellow women and we approached the County Commissioner,” she says, adding that it was not an easy task for them to get a hearing as there was a predetermined list of students, majority of who were boys.
“The next step was to petition all the county authorities on the matter. We wrote to the County Commissioner keeping the office of the Woman Representative, and the County Executive Member of Education in copy to demand for accountability and that the bursaries be allocated on equal measures among boys and girls,” explains Gladys who is happy that their steadfastness paid off; 57 girls got scholarships and are now schooling in various boarding schools in the County.
As we engage, I get a sense of her outspoken nature and her grip of the cultural disparities that affect girls among the pastoralist community where she ails. She tells me that her outspokenness did not just begin yesterday; it all began in the 2000s when she stood to be elected as a councilor. And even though she was not elected then, her unwavering zeal came into play in 2013 when she vied again to be a Member of the County Assembly. Her reasons; “ I wanted to show other women that it is possible to be at the table where key decisions are made. With the culture that mutes women’s voices, I believe our collectiveness as women is part of the solution to the problems that affects us, our sisters and our daughters,” says Gladys who wears many hats. Currently chairs the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake ( in her Sub-County.
And what does the future look like for the lifelong women and girls’ rights champion?
“For starters, I am grateful for the support and trainings offered by CREAW in our community awareness raising efforts,” she says in reference to the Wajibika initiative that is supported by UNTF and implemented by CREAW in Narok and Isiolo Counties.
Under Wajibika, the women-led groups are capacity built on ways to mobilize and rally communities around on issues that affects the wellbeing of women and girls as well as engage with authorities to effect policy changes that addresses the plight of women and girls more so, FGM and other forms of gender based violence.
Overtime, Glady’s and her co-activists have carried out community conversations targeting parents, women, men and the community elders in an effort to transform their behaviors and perceptions on the traditional practices, rituals and attitudes that perpetuate discrimination and infringement of women and girls’ civil liberties.
“Slowly the community is shaping up and growing more sensitive the rights of women and girls and equity issues; now we have more girls going to school and women are able to own and gain access to land and other matrimonial properties. We are not there yet, but we are keep on till every girl and woman is respected, able to go to school, marry when they want and are able to lead dignified lives free of violence,” she concludes.
Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) is a global advocacy day to promote good menstrual hygiene management (MHM) for all women and girls by breaking the silence, and raising awareness to change negative social norms around MHM, and engage decision-makers to prioritise and catalyse action for MHM, at global, national and local levels.
his appeal raises novel questions of law on whether vicarious liability can be attributed to the appellant, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) who at the material time had employed Astorikoh Henry Amkoah, (3rd respondent hereinafter referred to as “teacher”) for alleged acts of sexual abuse against the students hereinafter referred to as “WJ” and “LN”).
For 12 years Margaret Sepengo was a renowned female circumciser in the remote village of Leparwa tucked in the north of Isiolo County.
In 2015 she abandoned the cut all thanks to the sensitization efforts by CREAW auspiced under the Tunza Mama Na Mtoto project aimed at empowering communities to abandon retrogressive cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FMG) that inhibits on maternal and newborn health.
With the support from UKAid through Christian Aid, the project that is in its third year of implementation adopted a community mobilization approach dubbed SASA! (Start, Awareness, Support, Action),to educate and inspire communities to take actions for social change.
Margaret was lucky to be among those who were capacity built on maternal health issues and how they can use the knowledge to advocate against FGM, early marriages, teen pregnancies and gender based violence all of which are rooted deep in culture and the leading causes of maternal and newborn motilities and morbidities in the larger Isiolo County.
“It is the trainings that enabled me shun the practice and engage in alternative source of livelihood,” says Margaret who is now a respected community activist who is using the SASA! model to change perceptions and attitudes of her community towards FGM.
Female Genital Mutilation as she puts it, used to be the cornerstone of livelihoods for many households but the situation has changed. When she learned the art of the cut, her only motivation was to eke a living.
“I used to admire an elderly neighbour who used to circumcise girls and would earn a lot of money. Being a third wife and an only breadwinner in the family, I learnt the art and would make Sh1000 from each girl. The prices would go up to Sh2500 during high season and sometimes poor families will offer their goats or cattle,” she says.
“With the sustained community dialogues targeting the council of elders, men and women, the community has opted abandoned the age-old tradition,” she adds.
In her quest to have the elders lift the ban on the curse placed on any man who marries uncircumcised girl, Margaret reach out to the Masaai Morans to have the elders allow them to marry uncut women. The elders agreed to their quest and held a public forum to ‘break the curse.’ The forum held in Laikipia brought together the young and elderly from Masaai, Turkana and Samburu communities. This was a great step towards eradicating FGM.
“During the exchange visit between reformed circumcisers from Isiolo and Kajiado, I learnt the different initiative that my counterparts were using to have the elders to create a by-in with the elders who are the custodian of culture. I came back and embarked on the same. My efforts bore fruits,” explains the mother of four.
“Among pastoralist communities, uncircumcised girls were doomed to be a bad omen and outcasts. The blessings symbolized an end to the cut among the communities,” she says, adding, “ This was a step to ensuring that women and girls would now be free from early marriages and complications experienced during childbirth associated to FGM. “
Aside from her proactive activism in her community, she has enrolled herself into adult education program now in level three. She explains that like many girls in her community, she was married off to an elderly man at the age of 14 and was not able to ascend through to high school.
“If we give girls the opportunity to go to school, we will be able to break the cultural barriers and make healthy decisions for their reproductive health and that of their families and children,” she says.
