For more than 20 years, Bi Swalehe Hawaa dedicated her life to circumcising girls in Lamu, a practice otherwise known as female genital mutilation.
“If my memory serves me right, at least 500 girls have gone through my hands during my days as a traditional circumciser,” she says.
But now, she knows better and regrets what she did to those girls.
Hawaa is among hundreds of traditional ‘cutters’ who have since taken an about-turn and are now putting all their effort into educating the Lamu community on the dangers of FGM.
FGM is a harmful practice involving the full or partial removal or injury to a girl’s external genitals.
“It took me long to come around and actually believe that whatever I was engaging in was wrong, but when my own granddaughter died while at it, that was my turning point,” Hawaa said.
“I realised just how much damage what I was doing was causing both to the girls and the society. I am not proud of the past but I remain optimistic for the future.”
This is an interesting tale of how Lamu communities have tamed FGM, a decades-old practice, with many of the traditional circumcisers joining the anti-FGM campaigns.
The practice has been common among the Boni and Orma minority communities of Lamu but has been brought down by community-led initiatives.
Traditional circumcisers, the likes of Hawaa, have since ditched their tools of trade and joined hands with anti-FGM campaigners to speak against the practice and its effect on the health and well-being of girls.
Since the practice had been more of a source of livelihood for the circumcisers, many have since embarked on trade and farming for survival.
Image: CHETI PRAXIDES
I can confidently say that the community here is slowly but surely winning the war on FGM
Chief Abdi Bocha
REFORM CRUSADE
Villages that had previously been renowned for FGM include Bulto and Dide Waride in Witu division and Bargoni in Hindi division. They have since turned into fierce anti-FGM crusaders, with chiefs, Nyumba Kumi officials, elders, community leaders and the circumcisers taking the lead.
These locally initiated and led campaigns have seen FGM reduce by over 90 per cent in all the previously recorded hotspots.
The government played an integral part in all these by ensuring the circumcisers had alternative economic activities to engage in and make a living from instead of FGM.
Dide Waride chief Abdi Bocha says it would have been impossible to tell the ‘cutters’ to stop the practice without offering them an alternative livelihood.
The government started off by targeting the traditional circumcisers and sponsoring them to conduct alternative economic activities like milk vending, fish mongering and selling groceries.
Bocha says initially, critics felt the campaign would not achieve much, but several years down the line, many of the circumcisers now believe in the mission to save girls and stop FGM at all costs.
With time, most of these reformed circumcisers became successful business people and joined the campaigns to stop the practice.
“It has become a calling for many of them. Those who received the message and turned around have in turn taken it upon themselves to equally seek out other circumcisers and persuade them to stop and support the course,” he said.
“I can confidently say that the community here is slowly but surely winning the war on FGM.”
Shufaa Alamini, a reformed circumciser who practised since 1994, says she regrets all she did in her ignorance and wishes she could turn back time to make better decisions for the young girls she cut.
She has witnessed first-hand what FGM does not just to the body of the girl but to her emotional well-being as well.
HAUNTING MEMORIES
“I have done it on hundreds of girls and back then, I was just focused on how much I was making because my children needed to eat,” Alamini said.
“It’s not a happy trade. At times, some girls would pass out from over bleeding and regain consciousness later on. But in some unfortunate incidents, some died and I have never forgiven myself.”
She, however, says she has forgiven herself and made peace with her past mistakes, and is now focused on making life better for the girls of Lamu in whichever way she can.
“Now that I know better, I am dedicating my life to speaking up against FGM. No girl deserves to go through what I did to them,” she says.
Reformed circumciser Rahyma Mohamed urged parents and mothers especially to shield their daughters from the cut, terming it degrading.
FGM is among the leading causes of school dropouts and early marriages among young girls in the region.
Many of those who undergo the cut quit school to get married since traditionally, the practice is an indicator that a girl is ripe for marriage and child-bearing.
Lamu anti-FGM crusader, wife and mother of six Mwanali Rashid says she learnt the hard way before deciding to join efforts to fight the practice.
“My two daughters didn’t even go to Form 4, they got married as soon as their wounds healed,” Mwanali said.
“I wish I knew better then; they would be in college or even working. I am warning parents not to allow their girls to undergo circumcision. It destroys lives.”
She says back then, her younger daughter, then aged 13, almost died after undergoing the cut, and now swears that she cannot stand to see another girl go through what her daughters did.
The traditional circumcisers have taken it upon themselves to lead other campaigners in sensitising the rural communities on the implications of FGM.
Through rigorous trainings by the national government, the anti-FGM crusaders have been furnished with adequate information on how to convince and discourage the communities from partaking in or supporting FGM.
Chalaluma chief Hussein Dokota said they discovered that much of the cuts were secretly happening during school holidays and that as such, they intensified the campaigns during that period.
“FGM is now a dark dream that we want to get past. It’s unfortunate for those who went through it but we are hopeful that our girls have a brighter future ahead as the campaigns aren’t stopping anytime soon. We shall soon report a 100 per cent turnover,” Dokota said.
Following the rigorous anti-FGM campaigns, the number of girls attending schools has increased.
Anti-FGM campaigner Halima Gona calls for a halt in the objectification of girls.
“Stop looking at girls as if they were tools and objects to only generate dowry and wealth once they marry,” she said.
“If we empower these girls, our future won’t stay the same. They have the potential to change our society for the better.”
Lamu human rights activist Isaac Munene says there is a strong link between FGM and child marriage and in some communities, a girl is cut to ensure her marriageability, or in preparation for her marriage.
“This, in turn, can lead to increased instances of early pregnancy before the girl is physically mature, which can lead to her experiencing further physical and psychological problems,” he said.
“Both FGM and child marriage are discriminatory practices and against the human rights of the girl.”
MEDICAL REPERCUSSIONS
A girl who has undergone the cut often faces consequences that are dangerous and distressing with lifelong negative impacts.
The harmful effects can be physical, psychological and economic, often leading to difficulties throughout her childhood, adolescence and adult life.
Gynecologist Dr Evelyn Ngige says the effects of FGM run from childhood, girlhood, marriage to pregnancy and childbirth.
“Apart from experiencing shock, fear pain and trauma, some girls die as a direct result of the cut. These deaths can be caused by a range of complications, including haemorrhage and contracting septicemia, tetanus or HIV due to unsterilised tools,” she says.
Ngige says after undergoing FGM, a girl can experience difficulty in passing urine and difficulties with menstruation because her urethra or vaginal opening may have been blocked.
This can lead to infections and chronic pelvic inflammation, while some girls may also suffer from cysts, abscesses and ulcers after being cut.
She says with girls who have undergone the cut, sex during marriage can be painful and traumatic.
“Some women and girls have to be recut to have sex or may experience forced penetration. It is not only the first time that is painful. For many women, scar tissue will continue to cause pain during sex throughout their lifetimes,” she says.
She says to some extent, FGM increases the risk of infertility.
Ngige says FGM has a direct impact on maternal and infant mortality as women who have undergone the cut are 70 per cent more likely to suffer haemorrhage through giving birth, are twice as likely to die in childbirth and have a higher likelihood of stillbirth due to obstructed labour.
“Such women are also more likely to experience other complications, including obstetric fistula, foetal asphyxia, and perineal tears,” she says. BY THE STAR