Kenya is cracking down on FGM with the deployment of 20 prosecutors around the country
NAIROBI, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - With almost 50 cases in court, it is becoming increasingly risky for Kenyans to carry out Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on their girls, a prosecutor said.
Kenya is cracking down on FGM, a traditional practice which involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, with the deployment in March of 20 prosecutors around the country.
The anti-FGM unit, which is under the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), has at least 47 open cases, one of its senior lawyers said.
"Civil societies in these areas are committed to fighting FGM," Paul Ochieng of the DPP was quoted as telling The Star newspaper. "People will get scared and stop engaging in the outdated practice."
There were 21 FGM cases in the northwestern town of Kapenguria, 16 in Kajiado to the south and 10 in the western towns of Migori and Kisii, he said.
FGM is widely practiced among the Pokot, Maasai and Kisii communities in these areas.
Kenya is seen as a success story in the campaign to eliminate FGM, with prevalence down from 37 to 27 percent in the last decade.
Kenyan law provides for at least three years in jail for offences related to FGM and life imprisonment when the mutilation proves fatal.
FGM can cause haemorrhage, shock, complications in childbirth, fistula and severe pain during sexual intercourse.
The toughest sentence so far was passed to a father and a circumciser were jailed for 10 years for manslaughter after a 12-year-old girl bled to death.
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