Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO). FGM is a ritualistic practice done as a right of passage, often when the girls (as young as three) are betrothed.
“FGM, for Maasai, is a rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood. Women are not considered women unless they have gone through FGM,” Nailantei explains, “FGM in my community connects to girls ending their education, with child marriage, and with teenage pregnancies. A girl is 10 or 12 years old when she undergoes FGM. Then she’s told she’s a woman, and that means she’s ready for marriage, and that means she has children. They all go together. I saw pain. I saw death. Since I was 7 years old, I used to attend these ceremonies in my community with girls undergoing FGM. I saw my friends leave school and get married. And I wanted to continue my education.”
Nailatei escaped by running away with her sister and hiding in a tree until the ceremony was over. She then became the first girl in her village to go to secondary school (high school). When the other girls in her village saw her in her school uniform it inspired them to run away, seek help, and avoid the ceremony as well.
Nailate has helped over 15,000 girls avoid FGM and doing so made her a wanted woman in the region of the Maasai Mara. She then decided to take a different approach and received permission to share information about sexual health and wellness within her village. After four years of educating her village and community, the elders were convinced that the Maasai would be more prosperous if women were indeed able to stay in school longer, marry later and forego "the cut".
Though the elders in Nailate's village renounced the practice of FGM in 2014 the prevalence still remains very high amongst some communities such as the Somali at 94%, Samburu 86%, Kisii 84%, and the Maasa at 78%, according to UNICEF 2017.
Because of brave girls and woman just like Nailatei, FGM is decreasing. The media also continues to play an important role in highlighting FGM as an abuse of human rights. Social media and radio stations around Kenya and other countries stream programs enabling platforms for community dialogue regarding FGM, human rights, and even avenues to report FGM practices to local and national authorities. Safe houses for those running away and escaping FGM and child marriages have also been placed throughout the region thanks to non-profit and humanitarian organizations as well as Kenya's government.
Today let's highlight and stand for Nice Nailate Leng’ete and all of the brave girls and women who stand up to human rights violations and brave the terrifying obstacles before them. Because of them, countless girls will have access to education, safety, and a healthy life.
Ashe Oleng
Asante sana
Jody Tabibu Naritisho Mattena
President/Founder Tabibu Africa, Inc
