Schoolgirls converge at a Baringo rescue centre to evade FGM, early marriages

Hundreds of girls aged between 12 and 16 have fled to a rescue centre in Tiaty sub-County, Baringo County, out of fear of being subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and early marriages.

As girls in other parts of the country look forward to the December holidays, girls in the region have nothing to smile about with most of them vowing not to go home fearing for what awaits them back home.

When AVDelta News toured Cana Girls Rescue Home in Nginyang’ area, which has been the refuge for the girls fleeing the archaic cultural practices, the jovial girls welcomed us warmly, but as we were to learn later, behind the innocence manifested by the girls, lies chilling experiences which they have undergone before seeking refuge at the home.

*Georgina,12, not her real name and a Grade Six pupil at Nginyang’ Boarding Primary School, fled her home in Churo two(2) weeks ago after she got wind that her parents were planning to have her undergo the cut then marry her off.

“I walked in bushes day and night for more than 30 Kms until I got to the main road where some good Samaritans brought me to the rescue centre. It is safe here, I will not go back home,” said Georgina.

Another girl, *Maximilla,16, from Riong’o area, fled her home in September. It is alleged that her parents colluded with her aunt to make her undergo FGM.

“I managed to flee home after my brother assisted me to flee and I walked for more than 20 kilometres. I will not go back home until I’m assured of my safety. I want to study hard in school, and achieve my dreams of becoming a journalist,” said the soft-spoken girl.

According to Rev Christopher Chochoi of the Anglican Churches of Kenya (ACK) who is in charge of Cana Girls Rescue Home, parents in the area view their daughters as a cheap source of wealth in form of dowry, with a parent getting more than 12 cows when he marries off his underage daughter.

“We’ve been facing a lot of hostility from parents who come to the school demanding to take their daughters back home to undergo FGM, forcing us to seek the help of police and members of the national administration,” Rev Chochoi told AVDelta News.

The cleric cited an incident in 2023 where a girl who had been forced to get married to a 80-year-old man, committed suicide by taking poison.

He said that FGM was contributing to high illiteracy rates among women in the area with more than 90 percent of them not going to school. Girls are usually married off after undergoing the ritual.

Rev Chochoi said that the home is feeling the pinch of high turnout of grls seeking accommodation especially during the with their facilities being stretched to the limit.

He said that the practice was rampant in December and August holidays with the culture deep rooted in areas such as Kositei, Kollowa, Riong’o, Churo, Tangulbei, Paka Hills, and Natan.

Apart from being a refuge to girls fleeing FGM and forced marriages, Cana Rescue Home--established in 2005 with the help of donors and well-wishers--also caters for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs). Currently the home has a population of over 200 girls.

Nginyang’ Boarding Primary School is always the worst affected during closing day, with some girls refusing to go home to escape the forced cut. This forces the management to accommodate some girls in school, but the girls eventually end up at Cana Girls Rescue Home.

The school headteacher Francis Merinyang’ said that during the August holidays, they were forced to accommodate the girls fearing that they will drop out of school if they go home.

“We are usually forced to giving some of the girls houses of teachers who have gone home for holidays where they cook for themselves during the holidays,” Mr Merinyang’ told AVDelta News.

Baringo County Governor Benjamin Cheboi acknowledged that FGM was still prevalent in Tiaty sub-County, but said that the county government has put in place measures to stamp out the archaic practice including opening up the area including setting up more learning institutions.

“Plans are also underway for the county in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and other partners like Red Cross for boarding schools to be set up where the girls can be contained in schools to curb their dropping out after the holidays,” said Governor Cheboi.

According to the governor, sensitisation forums will also be rolled out soon in the area for parents to be empowered on the dangers of subjecting their daughters to such harmful cultural practices.

According to a recent survey carried out in 2023 by Women Rights Institute for Peace (WRIP), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in the North Rift, more than 300 girls underwent FGM in the North Rift region during the last December holidays with Tiaty leading with more than 100 girls facing the knife.

“A worrying trend has also emerged in the area where cases of married women being forced to undergo the practice against their wishes are on the rise,” said WRIP Executive Director Mariam Suleiman.

She said that this has also been reported in some parts of Elgeyo-Marakwet County, where married women are threatened with divorce by their husbands if they don’t accede to the demands of the elderly relatives in the community to undergo the rite.

“In some communities, young men are intimidated and threatened by elders and sometimes parents who insist FGM on their daughters-in-law before distributing inheritance like land to their sons,” explained Ms Suleiman during an interview with AVDelta News.

In some areas like Tiaty, she said, the community has changed the circumcision period from December to August to avoid the public, government and media focus that comes at the end of the year.

The situation has been aggravated by some government officials including chiefs, their assistants and other government officials’ ignorance on the existing legal instruments to address the matter.

“Cases of some of the government officials shielding parents and relatives who subject the girls to the practice are not new. However, some of them have been active in the fight against the practice by liaising with the police to have parents who force their children undergo the practice be brought to book,” says part of the report titled “Protection of girls running away from FGM in the North Rift region”.