The Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevalence rate in Kenya currently stands at 21 per cent, accounting for four million girls and women who have been circumcised according to UNICEF.
Consequently, according the anti-FGM Board Chairperson Agnes Pareiyo, the ultimate end of this rampant vice will only be accelerated if men and boys are involved in the campaign instead of watching from the sidelines as girls are subjected to one of the most dehumanizing practices.
Speaking during a sensitization meeting in Kerio Valley, Pareiyo said that the main challenge in fighting FGM is undue pressure from the boy child to the girl child to get mutilated or they fail to get married.
The chairperson said that FGM has been made a woman’s issue where it starts with the woman and ends with the woman which should not be the case.
She said men and boys should be on the frontline and act as agents of change, adding that the mission of stopping the practice will only be successful if everyone comes on board.
At the same time Pareiyo disclosed that their team will be visiting schools in the region to launch a sensitization campaign.
“There is need to sensitize boys and girls on the effects FGM as a way of putting to a stop to the practice,” she said.
By Rennish Okong’o
