'This practice should be stopped': Teen girls decry painful illegal 'circumcision'

Tonny Onyulo | Special to USA TODAY

ITEN, Kenya — Rachael Chepsal clutched her Bible as she recalled her terrifying ordeal last month undergoing a ritual known as female genital mutilation without an anesthetic.

“I’m still feeling the pain,” said the 14-year-old from Kaptul, a village in northwestern Kenya. “The old woman used a sharp knife that was not sterilized. When I was cut the blood flew. I was terrified because it was not something I chose.”

Rachael is among more than 2,000 girls from the ethnic Pokot community sent to the remote town of Iten by their parents to recuperate from the procedure, which has been illegal in Kenya since 2011.

The surgery, also known as female circumcision, involves cutting or removing all or part of the external female genitalia. The procedure usually is performed in August and December — when schools are closed.

Rachael's aunt made arrangements for traditional women circumcisers to abduct the seventh-grader from a local market last month. They bound her legs with ropes and forced her to have the operation.

“I was in great pain,” she sobbed. “I cried until I passed out. I bled profusely. I was thereafter treated with herbs, salt and water.”

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a global problem. The United Nations estimates more than 200 million girls and women around the world suffer the consequences of cutting procedure. The U.N. predicts that if current trends continue, 15 million additional girls ages 15 to 19 will be subjected to the mutilation by 2030.

In Kenya, 21% of women admit that they have undergone the painful procedure, according to Plan International, a humanitarian organization. The prevalence varies widely — 11% of women ages 15 to 19 are circumcised, whereas more than 40% of women ages 45 to 49 years are.

“FGM is illegal in Kenya, yet the law is not widely enforced,” said Lindsey Pluimer, founder of With My Own Two Hands, a non-governmental organization that educates girls. “These communities live in rural parts of the country, and (the law) is hard to enforce since they reject the modern aspects of Kenya society.”

Joseph Lorot, 70, a Pokot elder, said the cutting wouldn’t stop because it’s deep-rooted in the African culture.

“Some parents still believe that their uncircumcised girls will not be married,” said Lorot, who hosts five girls recovering from the procedure in secret to avoid arrest or questioning by authorities. “Men from these communities are making the situation worse by shunning these girls. Men who decide to marry uncircumcised women are rejected by the community and denied inheritance.”

Traditional women circumcisers, who are paid at least two goats or $30 to perform the ritual, maintained that it was the only rite of passage into womanhood and that the procedure also controls sexual arousal outside marriage.

“I don’t think anybody can stop the practice,” nodded Lucy Chenagat, a traditional circumciser. “It’s our culture. We cannot live without it. Some of the people who are telling us to stop the practice are already circumcised, and their daughters have been cut. Why shouldn’t they allow others to be cut?”

Experts have warned residents of the dangers associated with the cutting ritual.

“There are risks of infection and the possibility of bleeding to death,” Pluimer explained. “This procedure has been done on pregnant women, as well. Women who have had FGM are significantly more likely to experience difficulties, including high rates of cesarean sections during childbirth, and the babies are more likely to die as a result of the practice.”

Meanwhile, the ethnic Samburu community in northern Kenya is giving up its tradition of circumcising girls as a rite of passage. Local Samburu schools now offer alternatives, such as coming of age ceremonies. Samuel Leadismo, a Samburu warrior, is leading the fight against the practice of genital mutilation.

“I’m helping my community to ensure there are no cases of early marriages, female genital mutilation and also school dropouts,” said Leadismo, the director of Pastoralist Child Foundation. “FGM in the Samburu community has gone down. I will not allow the practice to continue in my community, because I know the effects."

Some girls in the Maasai, Pokot and other ethnic groups hope that such open-mindedness soon comes to their communities.

“I don’t want my sisters to go through the same experience," Rachael said, pointing out that the procedure can kill. "I saw young girls crying in pain and no one could assist them. This practice should be stopped.”

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