Kenyans circumcise girls in Tanzania to evade law – report
Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:54 GMT
Kenyan boys play during sunset in Didkuro, 1672 km (1038 miles) northeast of the capital Nairobi, in this file photo taken on December 19, 2005.
By Katy Migiro
NAIROBI (TrustLaw) – Kenyan parents determined to circumcise their daughters, despite the outlawing of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), are taking them across the border to Tanzania, the African Woman and Child Feature Service reported.
Traditional circumcisers from Kenya’s Kuria community crossed into Tanzania to cut a number of girls aged between seven and 15 during last month’s circumcision season, the report said.
FGM is prohibited in Tanzania but the law is not effectively enforced.
“Nobody will marry my daughter in the community if she is not circumcised,” one father, Wario Chacha, said in the report.
“I do not want my family to be a laughing stock. My girl will have to be cut no matter how long it takes.”
His 10-year-old daughter was one of 400 girls taken by local non-governmental organisations to rescue centres to protect them from being cut.
One in three Kenyan women is circumcised, despite the practice being criminalised in the 2001 Children’s Act.
In September 2011, Kenya passed the FGM Act into law providing for up to seven years in jail for anyone who commits FGM.
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