Identity & Dignity
Forced to Undergo FGM
A girl or woman is subjected to or threatened with female genital mutilation
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10 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“This is our tradition — it is what makes her a woman. She cannot refuse. It has been done in our family for generations.”
A girl or woman faces pressure to undergo female genital mutilation as a cultural initiation, marriage requirement, or family tradition. She may be a minor whose parents or guardians are planning the procedure, or an adult woman facing community or family coercion. FGM causes severe physical harm, permanent injury, and in some cases death. It remains practiced in some Kenyan communities despite a comprehensive legal prohibition. Both the procedure and the facilitation of it are serious criminal offences.
The Fallacy
Cultural Tradition Authorises What Law Prohibits
The family or community presents FGM as a tradition that exists beyond the reach of law — that cultural practice has its own domain where the state and legal system cannot interfere. Kenya's Constitution is explicit on this point: harmful cultural practices are prohibited regardless of how deeply held they are. The Prohibition of FGM Act criminalises the practice, its facilitation, and the failure to report a planned or completed FGM procedure. Cultural longevity does not confer legal permission.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2011 (No. 32 of 2011)
Section 19 and 20 — FGM as a Criminal Offence
“A person who performs FGM on another person commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not less than three years or a fine, or both. A person who aids, abets, or allows FGM to be performed on another person — including a parent or guardian — commits an offence. A person who fails to report knowledge of FGM having been performed or planned commits an offence.”
FGM is a serious criminal offence. Parents who allow or arrange it, practitioners who perform it, and community members who know of plans to perform it and fail to report are all criminally liable. The penalty is imprisonment. You can report plans to perform FGM to the police, a local administration officer, a social worker, or the National Gender and Equality Commission.
Children Act, 2022 (No. 29 of 2022)
Section 14 — Child's Right to Protection from Harmful Cultural Practices
“No person shall subject a child to female genital mutilation, early marriage, or any cultural practice or tradition that is likely to negatively affect the child's health, education, social, or emotional development.”
FGM performed on a child is both a violation of the Prohibition of FGM Act and a separate violation of the Children Act's prohibition on harmful cultural practices. Both apply simultaneously, reinforcing each other. Any person who knows a child is being subjected to FGM is required to report it under Section 120 of the Children Act.
Constitution of Kenya, 2010
Article 29(c) and 44(3) — Bodily Integrity and Prohibition of Harmful Cultural Practices
“Every person has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right not to be subjected to any procedure without informed consent. A person shall not compel another person to perform, observe, or undergo any cultural practice.”
Article 44(3) specifically prohibits compelling any person to undergo a cultural practice. This provision applies directly to FGM — no family or community member has the legal right to compel FGM. Combined with Article 29's right to bodily integrity, these provisions give every woman and girl a constitutional shield against FGM regardless of family or community pressure.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
God declares every human body — including the female body — to be fearfully and wonderfully made. Cutting away part of a woman's body as a cultural ritual treats God's creation as defective until modified. It is God himself who declares her body complete, whole, and wonderful as created. The prohibition on FGM in law reflects what Scripture declares in worship: God's created work does not require cultural correction.
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What They'll Say Next
Common Counter-Arguments
After you respond, they may push back with these arguments. Members get the full rebuttal for each.
They might say: “She is an adult — she can consent to this if she wants. It is her choice.”
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They might say: “It is a minor procedure — not the kind of harmful mutilation the law is targeting.”
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