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EQUALITY NOW Action 52.1

October 2013

Kenya: Protect girls by enforcing FGM and child marriage laws

Equality Now has been monitoring multiple cases of Kenyan girls running away from

their homes or avoiding going home from school during holidays to escape female genital

mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, particularly during the August and December

school holidays when mass mutilations are performed. The Pokot region, especially, has

had a high number of reports of girls running away from home or refusing to return home

from school. Despite the existence of Kenyan laws against FGM and child marriage, it is

clear that they are not being implemented in the region to protect girls.

 Elizabeth from Churo village was barred from attending school by her parents who planned to subject her to FGM and marry her off. She found refuge with her

aunt for a while and was attending school, but was forced to run away when her

father tried to remove her from her aunt’s home at age 16. She walked for three

days before arriving at a rescue center for girls. Her father came to the center and

tried to force her back home, but when the center’s management threatened him

with police action, he left and did not return.

 Alsine from Tangulbei village was pulled out of school by her parents at age 14 and subjected to FGM to ‘prepare her for marriage’. She ran away to her older sister’s home, but her father forcibly removed her from her sister’s

home and began marriage preparations. She managed to escape once more, and after spending two nights sleeping

outdoors, was directed to a rescue center for girls where she is once again attending school.

Cana Rescue Center, which aided both Alsine and Elizabeth, is one of the few rescue centers in the region. Unfortunately

it has neither the capacity or resources to house and educate all the girls who are seeking refuge, nor the ability to

indefinitely shelter these girls. NGO rescue centers, while providing an essential service, are not a permanent solution as

girls need to grow up within their families and communities. Although Kenya has laws banning FGM and child marriage,

Equality Now partner, Women Rights Institute for Peace (WRIP), has informed us that government officials in the Pokot

region where Alsine and Elizabeth are from, have done little to prevent violations or protect and support girls when they

seek refuge.

In the Pokot region, over 50% of girls between the ages of 10 and 21 years have been subjected to FGM; local officials

indicate that over 80% of girls either do not join school or drop out prematurely after undergoing FGM, as girls are often

married off immediately following the procedure. The Pokot government needs to work within communities to protect

and support girls and enforce laws to make sure violations are adequately addressed. Equality Now partner Tasaru

Ntomonok Initiative (TNI), based in Narok, Kenya, which also has a high prevalence rate of FGM and child marriage, has

developed a model that incorporates local government and law enforcement officials and chiefs from practicing villages,

to strengthen support systems and facilitate enforcement of laws. Implementation of similar interventions by national and

regional governments would help to protect and support girls and ensure safe and healthy childhoods.

In Kenya, prevalence rates for FGM and child marriage are approximately 27% and 26%, respectively, but there are

significant regional variations with rates as high as 98% in certain regions. FGM is generally performed on girls aged

between 12 and 18, but recent studies have shown that girls are being cut as young as age seven. FGM can have

detrimental lifelong health consequences including chronic infections, severe pain during urination, menstruation, sexual

intercourse, and childbirth, infertility, and psychological trauma.

FGM and child marriage are human rights violations and have a host of negative physical and psychological implications

on girls and women. Kenya, as a party to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights

of Women in Africa, requires State parties to prohibit both FGM and child marriage and to ensure “protection of women

who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practices.” Kenya has also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and both the

Committees associated with these treaties have called for an end to FGM and child marriage. In Kenya’s national legal

framework, FGM is prohibited under the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011 and both FGM and child

marriage are prohibited under the Children’s Act 2001. In addition, Kenya’s Constitution contains provisions against both

FGM and child marriage.

In its 2011 consideration of Kenya’s report, the CEDAW Committee stated its concern for the “negative impact of

harmful traditional practices, such as early and forced marriage, on girls’ education,” and “the continued prevalence of the

harmful practice of female genital mutilation in some communities, which is a grave violation of girls’ and women’s

human rights and of the State party’s obligations under the Convention.” They went on to call for effective

implementation of the law, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators and awareness-raising and education. In its 2007

consideration of Kenya’s report, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that FGM “is still widely

practiced, especially among certain indigenous and minority groups” and called on Kenya to “strengthen its measures

regarding female genital mutilation and early marriages and ensure that the prohibition is strictly enforced” as well as to

conduct awareness-raising and sensitization campaigns.

Despite frequent reports about cases of FGM and child marriage and girls escaping to avoid these practices, there have

been no known investigations or prosecutions to date in the Pokot region and the government has taken no steps to protect

the girls who are running away to avoid being violated.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Please join Equality Now and our partners WRIP and TNI in calling on the national government of Kenya and the local

government in Pokot to take urgent action in accordance with Kenya’s international, regional and domestic obligations to

ensure that:

 Immediate steps are taken to protect, and provide support and shelter to, girls escaping FGM and child marriage

and to ensure that at-risk girls are not subjected to FGM at any time and in particular during the upcoming

December holiday season.

 Laws against FGM and child marriage are effectively implemented with proper investigation and prosecution of

violations.

 All concerned national and local level authorities work together to put into place protective measures within at-

risk communities to protect girls from both child marriage and FGM, and to ensure that they are able to continue

their education.

 Awareness-raising and education campaigns are conducted to change cultural perception and beliefs on FGM and

child marriage and acknowledging the practices as human rights violations with harmful consequences.

Letters should go to:

H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta

President of the Republic

of Kenya

P.O. Box 30040

Nairobi, Kenya

Email:

contact@statehousekeny

a.go.ke or

president@statehouseken

ya.go.ke

H.E Ms Anne

Waiguru

Cabinet Secretary

Ministry of Devolution

and Planning

P. O. Box 30005 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya

Fax: +254 20 2218475

Email:

info@devolutionplanning

.go.ke

Hon. Prof Githu

Muigai., M.P.

Attorney General

Department of Justice,

National Cohesion and

Constitutional Affairs

Harambee Avenue

P.O Box 40112-00100

Nairobi, Kenya

Fax: +254 20 315105

Email:

[email protected]

H.E. Dr. Richard Belio

Kipsang,

Cabinet Secretary

Ministry of Education,

Science &Technology

Jogoo House B

Harambee Avenue

P.O. Box 30040

Nairobi, Kenya

Fax: +254 20 214 287

Benjamin C

Cheboi

Baringo County

Governor

P.O Box 53-30400,

Kabarenet, Kenya

Email:

governor@baringo

county.go.ke

Simon Kitalei

Kachapin

West-Pokot County

Governor

PO Box 1 - 30600,

Kapenguria, Kenya

Email:

[email protected].

ke

With a copy to: The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association, Email: [email protected]

Please keep Equality Now updated on your work and send copies of any replies you receive to:

Equality Now, P.O. Box 20646, Columbus Circle Station, New York, NY 10023 USA, Fax: +1-212-586-1611

Equality Now, P.O. Box 2018 - 00202, Nairobi, KENYA, Fax: +254-20-271-9868

Equality Now, 1 Birdcage Walk, London, SW1H 9JJ UK, Fax: +44-20-7973-1292

Email: [email protected] / Website: www.equalitynow.org