I am enroute to Naivasha for a three -day training-cum-engagement workshop titled “Who Shapes the Narrative?: Combating Teenage Pregnancies, Sexual Abuse, and Gender-Based Violence,”. As I observe and enjoy the tranquility that comes with the 2 hours drive, I am reminded that today the 6th of February the world joins together again, to mark the International Day Of Zero Tolerance For Female Genital Mutilation under the UN calendar. One of the greatest forms of Gender rights violation.

I reflect on the many news stories I have covered over the years on FGM, the many conferences I have attended with focus on ending the cut,the many declarations made by world governments against FGM , the millions of money spent on sensitization against FGM, the series of educational content produced to create awareness on the dangers of the cut yet up until today the heinous act continues to be propagated. What shocks me the most is the admission by stakeholders, that this is happening right inside hospitals, that learned parents fathers and mothers with doctorate degrees are the very same ones that present their girls for the cut in the name of upholding tradition.
The girls themselves will sneak in search of the cut as they have been made to believe; that one is not woman enough if she hasn’t undergone it. They do it to bring purported glory to their families, they do it to please their future husbands, they do it to fit in… They do it, They do it, They continue to do it.

These traditions continue to way down efforts against FGM.

Today’s significant event, is observed to create awareness about the violation of human rights of girls and women in the face of genital mutilation. Mostly carried out on minors, or illegally on women as they give birth, genital mutilation grossly violates the rights to health, physical integrity and that of security. The inhumane process of carrying it out is an outright death sentence.

Tony Mwembia of Men End FGM calls us to empower the girls but importantly to inform the men. “We need our men to be enlightened of these dangers that our girls are subjected to, we have established that most, men have minimal knowledge on the FGM procedure hence they take a back sit on this fight “.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), female genital mutilation (FGM) encompasses all the procedures that involve the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or an injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It goes on to prove that these practices have got no benefits for girls and women as they lead to severe bleeding, problems in urinating, possible development of cysts, menstrual difficulties, infections, childbirth complexities and the most recent discovery that I made, was the confessions of marriage difficulties. Ipato Surum, chair of the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Board in Kenya, speaks to just how marriages end up being nightmares for girls. “She will never experience sexual pleasure, she and the husband are likely to go out of their union in search of satisfaction (The man looking for a woman he can please and the woman searching for a man who can please her)”.

“The to be, lovely, heavenly and arousing, sexual act turns out painful rather than enjoyable. This has made me hop from one husband to four, I have not known pleasure “. Says Fatuma Buya, not her real name.

Recent data suggests that over 230 million girls and women have undergone the cut across 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. That this continues to persist among the immigrant populations living in Western Europe, Australia, North America and New Zealand.

The fight continues to yield albeit slow paced. United Nations states that the prevalence has declined globally, with now a girl being one-third less likely to undergo FGM than 30 years ago.

As I proceed to this next conference, I hope that it presents an eye opening experience that will help me and my colleagues in media to tell the stories on gender based violence in a rather crisp , sensitive and objective way. I hope we can paint the picture as is and help shape better policies for change. We hope to accelerate the elimination of FGM and the many other GBV cases.

The training has been organized by Kenya Editors Guild, in partnership with the Kenya Human Rights Commission and Resolve Communications.

Linda Alela is an Anchor/Reporter and Lead Gender desk at Cape Media