Community | December 05, 2008 | 35 comments

Girls flee circumcision in Kenya

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7766806.stm

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ashcatash
Please read this and pass it on to your friends. Everyone should be aware of the horrors of female circumcision!! We must stop this practice!!
Kudos to the churches and Maendeleo Ya Wanawake for having the guts to stand up against FGM!!

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At least 300 girls in south-western Kenya have fled from home and sought refuge in churches in a bid to escape forced female genital mutilation (FGM).

The girls, some as young as nine, are at two rescue centres in rural Nyanza province, police told the BBC.

Female circumcision is banned in Kenya, but remains common in some areas where it is considered to be part of a girl's initiation into womanhood.

The traditional ceremonies take place between November and December.

The girls in Kuria District are now in the care of the two churches and Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, a women's organisation.

Police are providing security at the centres to ensure that the girls are not forcibly removed or harassed.

Beatrice Robi, Maendeleo Ya Wanawake's district chairperson and a gender activist, says that at least 200 girls are undergoing circumcision in the district a day.

She said she had found a seven-year-old girl who had just been circumcised.

"There are more girls who are still in their homes and they are undergoing it [circumcision], whether it is voluntarily or they are being forced," she told the BBC.

She says her organisation along with the local churches and authorities have been trying to convince the community to stop the practice and rescuing girls from forced circumcision.

Paul Wanjama, the commanding officer in Kuria District, says girls in the region usually flee to the rescue centres until the season ends.

He said that in some cases, parents encourage the girls to go to the rescue centres to avoid being circumcised.

"There are some parents who are against that [FGM practice] but they get pressure from these traditional people," he told the BBC.

Girls who undergo circumcision feel that they are ready for marriage and do not go back to school when the term begins in January leading to a high drop-out rate, Mrs Robi said.
She appealed to other girls to seek refuge in the centres until the end of the traditional ceremonies and praised the local police for their support.

Mr Wanjama says some cases of forced circumcision had been reported to the police and legal action has been taken.

The FGM operation involves the partial or total removal of the external genital organs.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says it leads to bleeding, shock, infections and a higher rate of death for new-born babies.

In Africa, about three million girls are at risk of FGM each year, according to the UN.
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35 comments // Girls flee circumcision in Kenya

  • nchagwa
    • 0
      nchagwa  

    • Im from a community that FGM is practiced, it is hard to convince the semi literate people in the village that this practice is wrong.This has been passed down from our fore fathers. The village elders should be educated about the dangers of FGM

    • 3 years ago
  • Brendan_M
    • Brendan_M  
    • This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • Image

    • It is amazing how little most women (and men) know about the anatomy of the clitoris. Click on the picture to see it in full-size.

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • Image

    • "Lightfoot-Klein (1989) studied circumcised and infibulated females in Sudan, stating, "Contrary to expectations, nearly 90% of all women interviewed said that they experienced orgasm (climax) or had at various periods of their marriage experienced it. Frequency ranged from always to rarely." Lightfoot-Klein stated that the quality of orgasm varied from intense and prolonged, to weak or difficult to achieve.

      A study in 2007 found that in some infibulated women, some erectile tissue fundamental to producing pleasure had not been completely excised.[72] Defibulation of subjects revealed that a part of or the whole of the clitoris was underneath the scar of infibulation. The study found that sexual pleasure and orgasm are still possible after infibulation, and that they rely heavily on cultural influences — when mutilation is lived as a positive experience, orgasm is more likely. When FGC is experienced as traumatic, its frequency drops. The study suggested that FGC women who did not suffer from long-term health consequences and are in a good and fulfilling relationship may enjoy sex, and women who suffered from sexual dysfunction as a result of FGC have a right to sex therapy."

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • CJReeves
    • 0
      CJReeves  

    • ......Like any of us can REALLY relate??? C'mon, as long as they dont cut off the clit,,, the girls should be cool,,,Great sex,, No kids! Seems great to me. In the words of G.G.,,,,,,,,,,,Lick the clit,, Lick the clit!!!!

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • joy2yah
    • 0
      joy2yah  
    • CJReeves:

      Excuse me! That is the point!The point is to remove the clitoris! So they will not have any sensation.The other sick reason is to CONTROL the female so anyone is free to abuse a reduced person.Wake Up!!!!

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  

    • saiger, this is why, in the case of infibulation, the husband cuts his wife open to have sex with her, and she is cut even more to be able to give birth.

    • 3 years ago
  • saiger
  • saiger
    • 0
      saiger  

    • Okay, could everyone stop trying to top complaints, and get myself and the rest of the world some information on how we can help. This is horrific and we need to do something besides do the pathetic "chat".

    • 3 years ago
  • charmedkitten
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • saiger:

      The only thing that can help this situation is ecucation and information. For this, you need to go to those countries where it is practiced, and educate both the men and the women on the subject and on the dangers. There is no other way.

    • 3 years ago
  • charmedkitten
    • 0
      charmedkitten  

    • what the hell are people doing being circumcised in Egypt. their one of the most loosest countries. they dont want women to have sexual urges but yet the whole country seems to be westernized to me. including the flowing of liquor.

      total hypocrites man!!!!
      people really need to start separating between religion and custom. maybe they should start cutting some penis's off.

      very nice article ashcatash.

    • 3 years ago
  • ashcatash
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • charmedkitten:

      They do cut some of the penis off - male circumcision, in which the foreskin is cut off. The foreskin has more nerve endings than the rest of the penis, so circumcised men have only about 40% of the pleasure that uncircumcised men have.

    • 3 years ago
  • cabinettags
    • 0
      cabinettags  

    • Agree Ashcatash. A topic to be spread around.

      This is more of the same, save in Egypt. The story of a mom that was circumcised twice. (They missed a little bit the first time. Lord!)

      She was determined her girls weren't going to go through this and her mom sneaks off in the night with one and has it done against her wishes.

      The article speaks of the total lack of interest in sex (no kidding), and how the girls pretend enjoyment to placate hubby. It also quotes some saying they consider this their sacred duty.

      An interesting read and a little more info to add to the file.

    • 3 years ago
  • ashcatash
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • cabinettags:

      Actually, since the overwhelming majority of the clitoris is still in place - it is a very large organ that stretches deep inside the body - circumcised women do have pleasure during sex and even have orgasms.

    • 3 years ago
  • Keoni_wp
    • 0
      Keoni_wp  

    • I've heard of this barbaric practice, but I don't understand why they do it. What is the purpose? There is a reason to circumcise a male. But what could possibly be a reason to do this to a female? Especially when they are in their teens. I feel terrible for these poor girls.

    • 3 years ago
  • cantucwearebrothers
  • wintermadness90
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • Keoni_wp:

      There are no reasons to circumcise men - the foreskin has more nerve-endings than the rest of the penis, so they lose over 60% of sexual pleasure when they are circumcized. Male circumcision is as much a sexual mutilation as is women's circumcision. With regard to women, there are five different degrees of circumcision practiced in Africa, depending on the ethnic group. They are a nick in the hood, the removal of the hood, the removal of the tip of the clitoris (which extends deep into the body, so full removal is impossible), removal of the tip of the clitoris plus removal of the inner lips, and infibulation in which the tip of the clitoris, the inner and the outer lips are cut away and the surrounding flesh stitched together to close up the woman, leaving only a small hole through which she can urinate and pass her menses.

    • 3 years ago
  • ashcatash
  • Vierotchka
  • charmedkitten
    • 0
      charmedkitten  
    • Keoni_wp:

      they sew her up so that she cant have sex. if that stitch is broken by someone other than her husband, then she is considered tainted.

      thats why they perform it usually when their little.

    • 3 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • chernobylheart
    • 0
      chernobylheart  
    • Keoni_wp:

      The reason I was given is because it makes sex "uncomfortable" for the women (read: Hideously, unspeakably painful!), and thus less likely to cheat on their husbands. It also supposedly makes sex feel better for the men. Gross.

    • 3 years ago
  • dollface08
  • Vierotchka
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • dollface08:

      No, dollface, it is not the equivalent of removing 3/4 of a man's penis. The clitoris is a very large organ that stretches deep into the body - the glans is only a tiny part of it.

    • 3 years ago
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  

    • There is no excuse to abuse a child. Customs be damned, no excuse. This has gone for too long. The mental damage will last the rest of their lives.

    • 3 years ago
  • Neghie
    • 0
      Neghie  
    • bluestranger:

      Easy for you to say. You live in the land of the free, physically and mentally. Education is the only the way to break what such considered a tradition that has been around longer than you. It's deplorable, but the fact that some parents are encouraging their daughters to run is a sign that some progress is being made. Those girls will not inflict that same pain on their children. Its a good start.

    • 3 years ago
  • bluestranger
  • charmedkitten
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