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http://www.worldywca.org/YWCA-News/World-YWCA-and-Member-Associations-News/The-YWCA-of-Kenya-Tackling-FGM?utm_source=Women%27s+Voice+Jan+7+-+Jan+14&utm_campaign=Women%27s+voice&utm_medium=email

 

FGM - KENYA PEER EDUCATION CREATIVE PROGRAMME IN SCHOOLS FOCUSES ON HIGH FGM AREA - WORLD YWCA

World YWCA - 14/01/2013

Globally, an estimated 140 million girls and women are currently living with the consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Young women and girls are too often subject to harmful traditional practices, such as FGM and child marriage, which increases their risk of maternal mortality or childbirth injury, HIV infection, and domestic violence. In Africa alone, an estimated 92 million girls, 10 years old and older, have undergone FGM (WHO, 2012).

The YWCA of Kenya is tackling this human rights violation head on by raising awareness about the life threatening consequences of FGM. Through the World YWCA Power to Change Fund and supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the YWCA of Kenya has indentified the high risk provinces and conducted peer education programmes which mobilise young people within school settings and with the support of teachers. Creative mediums, such as the use of sports and drama organised as tournaments. have proven most effective in bringing youth together and providing a platform for information dissemination and dialogues with teenagers on sexuality.

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS 2008/2009), Nyanza Province has the highest HIV prevalence rate at 14%, with the highest prevalence being among young women at 11% and 3 percent for men respectively. KDHS 2008/2009 further reports that Female Genital Mutilation is highest in Kisii City of Nyanza Province, at 96%. FGM has also been linked to sexual activity and early marriage. Other reasons including reports of child prostitution and other inimical cultural practices, such as wife inheritance, sex cleansing, taboos and beliefs on reproductive health and family planning methods within the same region. Due to the high risks that young women are exposed to in the Nyanza region it was found imperative to select this region for this project.

The programme in Nyanza has continued to help young women to openly discuss their sexual and reproductive health and rights concerns through the YWCA safe spaces. The programme has also built the capacity of young women to understand their rights, especially those that address sexual violence, as this is a major issue due to cultural practices and beliefs.

Kezia Bianca, a peer educator from the YWCA of Kenya, boldly shared her life experience as a survivor of FGM. “FGM is an inhuman act which affects a girl’s biological make-up. As a girl I strongly believe that I have the responsibility to protect young girls from this act. To end these harmful practices and advance more equitable social norms, programmes and schools should address the issue early in the life of girls in order to alter the cultural expectations. Women and men should be made aware of the fact that living free of violence is a basic human right. Also, well-meaning parents who view FGM as a way to prepare daughters for marriage should change their behaviour and recognise that the practice is a violation of the rights of girls.”

At the YWCA of Kenya – Kisii branch, one programme involves training young girls from the age of 10 and above on alternative rights of passage and their rights as girls and young women. At the end of the training they graduate and are awarded with a certificate to show that they have gone through a stage of their life that qualifies them as circumcised but still gives them a chance to continue their education. Training is also provided for parents and circumcisers on the effects of FGM and the law concerning FGM. The circumcisers are also taken through business skills training and ways of starting alternative income generating activities, as many claim that it’s only through circumcising girls that they feed their families.

Lastly, Kezia Bianca stated, “As a girl who went through FGM, I believe that there is a future for me and I have a purpose in life. My advice to all girls who experienced FGM is that there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Life has to go on. When I was circumcised I was only 15, I had a dream of educating my community on the dangers of FGM, and I wanted to be an example by telling them how it feels when you abuse the rights of the girl child. Let us come out openly and be ready to stand up for the rights of the girl child.”

The YWCA of Kenya is also one of the eight African National YWCA Member Associations conducting SRHR projects as part of a special initiative – Mobilising and Investing in Young Women’s Leadership around SRHR, funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. These projects empower young women as champions in advocating for young women at large to have accurate information for making informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.