Giving Compass' Take:

• Dr. Josephine Kulea shares how community engagement efforts can work to reduce cultural violence against girls and women, including female genital mutilation.

• How can this approach be tailored to work in different cultural settings? 

• Learn more about ending female genital mutilation. 

According to the Kenyan Demographic and Health Survey in 2014, 86% of Samburu girls have undergone female genital mutilation. Although conclusive research on the percentage of early marriages has not been done, it is not far from that figure, because girls are cut on the wedding day.

“Beading,” is a Samburu practice that allows a moran (initiated warrior) to have sexual relations with a girl from the same clan. However, they are not allowed to conceive. If the girl gets pregnant an abortion, and a generally unsafe one, is procured.

Since battling these practices exclusively through law enforcement often creates tension, a community-driven campaign fused with pro-bono lawyers, stakeholders, and law enforcement is slowly changing how the community views the girl child.

We hold under-the-tree community outreach sessions, which enable us to engage the different cohorts of people in the community, which include women, men, morans, and the girls. These one-on-one meetings within the communities have been very effective in raising awareness, and now more people are aware of child rights than just a few years ago. We rescue girls at risk of the three issues and who are reported to us and bring them to the rescue center, where we offer counseling and fulfill basic needs.

Read the full article on violence against girls and women by Dr. Josephine Kulea at United Nations Foundation.