FGM in Pastoralist Communities in Kenya

Among pastoralist groups like the Samburu, Maasai, Pokot, and Somali, female genital mutilation (FGM) continues to shape the lives of thousands of girls and women, despite decades of advocacy, legal prohibition, and growing awareness. To many within these communities, FGM is not just a procedure but a cultural rite of passage, a marker of purity and readiness for marriage.

FGM in Kenya typically involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, usually performed on girls between the ages of 8 and 15. The procedure is often carried out by traditional circumcisers using unsterile tools and without anesthesia, leading to severe physical and psychological trauma. Complications such as hemorrhage, infection, infertility, and complications during childbirth are common. UNICEF Kenya estimates that roughly 21% of Kenyan women and girls have undergone some form of FGM, though in certain pastoralist communities, the prevalence exceeds 90%.

For many families, FGM is deeply intertwined with concepts of honor and marriageability. In communities where bride wealth remains an important economic exchange, an uncut girl is often viewed as unfit for marriage. Girls who resist the practice risk forced cutting. In some regions of Samburu and West Pokot, parents send their daughters to neighboring villages under the guise of visiting relatives for them to be cut secretly. The ritual is often followed by early marriage, cutting short a girl’s education and autonomy.

Despite the Kenyan government’s passage of the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (2011), enforcement remains inconsistent. Police in rural areas are often reluctant to intervene in what are considered “private cultural matters,” and perpetrators rarely face prosecution. However, resistance to FGM has been growing, led by a powerful coalition of survivors, educators, and local NGOs.

Education has also emerged as a crucial tool for transformation. When girls stay in school, they are more likely to resist the practice and advocate for others. For example, UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Program on the Elimination of FGM, together with the Anti-FGM Board, has been working with grassroots organizations in Kenya’s hotspot counties to engage over 15 ethnic groups, 11,000 community champions and role models, and establish a network of over 15,000 survivors.