A section of university students drawn from Embu County Campus Students Organization (ECCSO) has called on the National Government and the County Government to take a stern action against Embu residents who are still exposing girls to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
The students who hail from Embu County said that despite all the measures that have been put in place by the Government to fight FGM, the prevalence of the vice is still high in most parts of Embu County.
The students added that despite the FGM Act 2011 stipulating the punishments that an individual risk facing if found engaging in the act, many parents still overlook the said punishments and subject their daughters to FGM.
Dorcas Kagendo regretted that the anti-FGM laws are not enforced and called on the County Government’s leadership to work closely with the National Government to end female cut in the region.
“At some point, we acknowledge that the FGM Act 2011 is there but it has always had loop holes. It is not followed and enforced to the letter. Our County Governments’ leadership should work closely with the National Government to ensure that it is amended and enhanced so that the girl child can be fully protected from the vice,” appealed Kagendo.
Another student Naomi Kanini called on the National Government to embrace a multi-agency fight against FGM in order to end it not only in Embu County but the entire Kenya.
Kanini also called on the County Government of Embu and the National Government to carry out sensitization programmes in remote areas of Embu County in order to educate parents on the dangers of FGM.
“In remote areas of Embu County, many parents are illiterate and are not well exposed to information as well as the new technology and thus subjecting their girls to FGM still appeals to them,” she stressed.
Kanini added that FGM lower victims’ self-esteem besides exposing them to stigmatization which may lead them from dropping out of school.
“I wish to plead with the Government to protect girls from being subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM),” insisted Kanini.
