Kenyan girls still suffering genital mutilationAFP, NAROK, KenyaMasai women erupted with mocking heckles as a community elder, wrapped in a traditional red blanket, claimed that female genital mutilation had all but stopped in their community in southern Kenya. One local nurse said about 80 percent of girls in the area are still affected, despite the practice being made illegal in 2011. Female genital mutilation (FGM) has survived decades of pressure to end it, from British colonialists, and later Kenyan and global non-governmental organizations. “We don’t circumcise girls, because the culture has changed,” Masai elder Moses Letuati, 50, said before admitting one of his four daughters was cut. One young Masai man said he had friends who still believed in FGM, but said girls were no longer cursed — a form of social control used by elders — for refusing it.

Source: Taipei Times December 20, 2025 16:54 UTC