Purity’s Story

Breaking the silence on female genital mutilation and child marriage in northern Kenya

Through USAID training and activities at her school, Purity learned life skills, reproductive health education, and advocacy skills to encourage her family and peers to abandon harmful practices. / Kevin Gitonga, Amref Health Africa

Walk through the village of Wamba in northeastern Kenya and you’ll find a farmer selling maize in a bustling market, semi-nomadic Samburu pastoralists resting from herding cattle, children playing soccer at the edge of town, and adolescent girls in matching uniforms walking on a dirt road.

The girls were headed to Wamba Girls School. Once they arrived, 13-year-old Purity and her classmates organized their chairs under the shade of a nearby acacia tree and listened to a community leader explain why female genital mutilation and cutting and early and forced child marriage are harmful to their health and overall wellbeing.

At the Wamba Girls School in Kenya, Koota Injena Champions hold dialogues with adolescent girls to re-envision how women and girls are treated, why their rights should be respected, and why they should finish their education. / Kevin Gitonga, Amref Health Africa

The community leader, part of a USAID project called Koota Injena (“Come Let Us Talk” in the Borana language), told the girls these practices are forms of gender-based violence and limit their potential to pursue their dreams, and female genital mutilation can have profound psychological and physical effects.

Female genital mutilation, a practice of cutting part or all of the clitoris, can cause excessive bleeding, difficulties in childbirth — and sometimes even death. When a girl (typically between 8 and 15 years old) undergoes cutting, she is considered ready for marriage, often to an older man, and expected to drop out of school. UNICEF estimates that at least 200 million girls and women alive today have experienced female genital mutilation.

Over the last 10 years, child marriage has decreased by 15 percent. Although this rate is declining, one in five girls is married before the age of 18 every year, equaling nearly 12 million girls worldwide.

While countries like Kenya have outlawed these practices, they persist –particularly in rural areas. In Samburu County, 90 percent of women have undergone cutting, and 38 percent were married before they turned 18.

Purity’s aunt discussed the dangers of female genital mutilation and child marriage with Purity’s mother and encouraged her to allow Purity to continue to pursue an education. / Kevin Gitonga, Amref Health Africa

Changing perceptions through open dialogue

Women and girls, in all their diversity, deserve a life free from violence and the ability to control their own bodies and future. Through Koota Injena, USAID, along with Amref Health Africa, engages with communities in the northern Kenya counties of Samburu and Marsabit through intergenerational dialogues to collectively abandon female genital mutilation and child marriage, and empower adolescent girls to pursue their own goals.

USAID works with religious and traditional leaders, youth, mothers, daughters, and clan leaders in 40 communities. The project trains male and female Community Champions to educate and hold dialogues with different local groups about the consequences of cutting and child marriage.

To further support the girls in these communities, USAID established a scholarship program to send girls who are at risk of or are survivors of female genital mutilation and child marriage to secondary boarding school. In the classroom, girls receive life skills training, reproductive health education, and training on how to advocate for ending these practices in their communities.

A scholarship provided by Koota Injena ensures Purity stays in school — and brings her one step closer to reaching her dreams of becoming a doctor. / Kevin Gitonga, Amref Health Africa

Ensuring girls reach their full potential

Two years after Purity learned about these two forms of gender-based violence in the classroom, her parents approached her about going through cutting as a rite of passage. Purity recalled the day that her mother explained that she must undergo the practice because of cultural expectations.

“My parents planned that they would circumcise me,” said Purity. “I discussed with her the effects of [cutting], and she didn’t agree. And I refused.”

Purity added: “The same day that my parents wanted to circumcise me, there was a man who came and said he will marry me.”

After her parents insisted that she still go through female genital mutilation, Purity ran away to her aunt’s home, a Koota Injena Champion. The following day, her aunt joined her in discussing the risks of the practice with her parents. After educating them, they all agreed that they would not make her go through cutting, which would have led to marriage.

Now, Purity attends secondary school through a Koota Injena scholarship. Following in her aunt’s footsteps, she says she feels it’s important to help girls and their parents in her community better understand female genital mutilation and child marriage, and why girls should instead be enrolled in school.

Purity said: “I would like to tell them to join me in school. School can change your life.”

A look at U.S. Government investments in Samburu County. Spanning more than five decades, the U.S.-Kenya partnership is a tapestry of ties in government, business, academia, development, and civil society. See PDF for more info.

About the Author

Natalie Lovenburg is the Communications Specialist on the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev) Hub within the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI). With reporting in Kenya by Nicole London, Manager of Business Development, Amref Health Africa.