The Anti-FGM Board of Kenya has assured that the identity of all those who will report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) incidents and practices will be treated with strict confidentiality to protect them against any backlash from the community.
Anti-FGM Board Assistant Director of Programmes Joseline Katunge, while leading a sensitisation forum for Community Health Promoters (CHPs) at Ekerenyo, Nyamira County, noted that most cases of FGM from the larger Gusii Community are not reported promptly for fear of whistle blowers being scolded by community members, since it is a deep-rooted cultural practice that has been handed down for hundreds of generations.
The assistant director stated that the Anti-FGM Board has come up with a mobile app, which members of the public can use to report incidents and practices of FGM going on in their area, while being assured of the utmost confidentiality of the information they deliver using the app.
The ‘Pasha’ app is only used to report FGM cases or incidents, and for those who do not have a smartphone, they can use a short message service (SMS) to write a text message and write ‘Pasha’ to 20880.
The message should contain information in the area where the incident has happened so that the respective administrators can do immediate follow-up.
“We have county and subcounty ant-FGM steering committees, mandated to coordinate and act swiftly about the criminal incident that has been reported.
There is therefore no reason to fear or be worried about what will happen to you after you have reported because your identity will not be revealed, so long as the information given is factual, it will be tracked and perpetrators brought to book.
Katunge informed the CHPs that the Anti-FGM Board is mandated to eliminate FGM in Kenya under the prohibition of FGM ACT 2011.
“As per the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2022 data, Nyamira County is one of the 22 FGM hotspot counties in Kenya, since its 74.4 per cent FGM practice prevalence rate is above the regional prevalence rate of 15 percent.
The Anti-FGM Board has therefore decided to commemorate the country’s 2026 International Day of the Girl Child at the Ekerenyo grounds, Nyamira County, on 11th October under the theme “Ending FGM and Investing in Girls’ Rights,” Katunge revealed.
The function will be the best platform to sensitise members of the public and offer them the opportunity to access information about the dangers of FGM, though they still feel it’s one of the special rites of passage for girls in the Gusii community from childhood to adulthood.
The county director of Gender, Sports and Social Services Rachael Okong’o said that because of fear of victimisation, many people of goodwill do not report FGM cases, but with the invention of the Pasha app, more reports will now reach the Anti-FGM Board dashboard for them to help the helpless girls forced to undergo FGM access justice.
She welcomes members of the public to come out in large numbers and get to know more about the lifelong detrimental effects of FGM on their innocent girls so that they can stop this archaic and primitive practice which is legally criminal.
By Deborah Bochere
