Cross-border FGM thrives, thanks to poor law enforcement
Anti-FGM stakeholders draft a work plan to counter cross-border FGM in Tarime, Tanzania, on May 27, 2022.
What you need to know:
- A survey by UNFPA has lifted the lid on how weak implementation of laws and a lack of penalties drive cross-border FGM in the East African region.
- The survey, conducted in border communities of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania, also shows that low education levels are partly to blame.
Cross-border female genital mutilation (FGM) is the new scheme used by perpetrators to evade law enforcers and prosecution.
Girls and women in Kenya, for instance, are sneaked into neighbouring countries where they are cut then brought back. This trend by border communities conceals the crime.
A survey by UNFPA has lifted the lid on how weak implementation of laws and inadequate penalties drive cross-border FGM in the East African region.
The survey, conducted in border communities of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania, also shows that low education is partly to blame.
If the trend continues, estimates by UNFPA suggest, at least 9.41 million girls in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania will be at risk of undergoing FGM between 2015 and 2030.
More than three out of 10 people interviewed in five border communities intended to have their daughters or female relatives undergo FGM. The respondents noted that there were no penalties for practising FGM, citing law implementation gaps.
They termed it easy to practise FGM in border areas such as Isebania–Tarime, Mandera and Moyale. In Uganda, 57 per cent of respondents in Sabiny felt it was easy to cross the border.
Kenya banned the practice in 2011 through the Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2011, which carries a minimum punishment of three-year imprisonment and a Sh200,000 fine.
In most border communities, members acknowledge the existence of anti-FGM laws, although some have a general perception that penalties are weak.
To end this menace, the UN agency will support the enactment and enforcement of laws specific to border areas and reflective of their contexts, and collaborate with governments to accelerate the elimination of the harmful practice.
Some 200 million women and girls globally are estimated to have undergone FGM, with about a quarter, or 48.5 million, being from East Africa.
“Interventions targeting community, religious leaders and families with a history of FGM; leveraging existing goodwill to abandon FGM; and supporting the enactment and enforcement of laws specific to border areas and reflective of their contexts and the collaborative efforts by governments across borders could all help to accelerate the elimination of the practice,” the survey says.
Action plan
EAC member states have already signed a memorandum to address cross-border FGM. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Somalia in 2021 launched an action plan. Cross-border FGM has been blamed for being one of the biggest challenges to ending the cut in the region.
The regional action plan was launched by gender ministers from the five countries during a high-level inter-ministerial meeting in Kampala, Uganda. It entails the development of a comprehensive programme aimed at strengthening human rights instruments that call for the total elimination of FGM.
It also constitutes a framework at the regional level for state and non-state actors to enhance prevention, protection, and prosecution programmes.
Kenya has also committed to coming up with fresh interventions to fight cross-border FGM in Kuria and other border points. Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa early this year said the government would not relent. She was speaking in Kuria during celebrations to mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.
“To all FGM cutters, whether you work at night, in broad daylight, in a hole or abroad, the long arm of the government will reach you. This is a new government with a new agenda and FGM will not be tolerated," Ms Jumwa said.
