Watching news on one of the local TV channels and hearing the peril of a young girl who underwent the ‘cut’ against her will in one of the local clinics in Nairobi, is heart rending. Reason? There is a general belief that FGM is only practiced in the rural areas by traditional circumcisers. Reality check: in the present society, the practice of FGM is shifting from the traditional setting to a hospital setting, a condition referred to as medicalisation. This has made an excuse for the persistence of the practice where its hazards have been a tool of fighting it. The people no longer see the wrong in doing it since they believe they are dealing with experts in hygiene.
In the past, when girls were considered to have reached the age for circumcision, they would be taken upcountry during the holidays to undergo the ‘rite’. But with the mushrooming of clinics and quacks posing as ‘medics’, the girls do not have to be taken upcountry, as the services are readily available. This is not only happening in Nairobi, Kisii has the highest rate of medicalisation and it is a booming business for doctors. As a society we have failed; as doctors we have encouraged the practice for our own selfish needs; as parents we have failed our children by forcing them into outdated practices and in general, as a society we have been spectators, watching the girls suffer in silence.
As the National Focal Point on FGM Eradication, we request the Ministry of Health, which actively participated in the development of the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of FGM in Kenya, 1999; a 20-year plan to eradicate FGM, to follow-up on the issue of medicalisation and flush out all the hospitals and medics involved in carrying out the practice.
And as a society we need to realize that the society into which we were socialized is changing and so is the culture. We are adapting foreign cultures, yet we refuse to let go of practices that served a purpose back in the days. Aren’t we then practicing double standards?
