Lobby enhances surveillance in Embu to keep FGM at bay
Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation is on the lookout for those likely to subject girls to female genital mutilation (FGM) in Embu county now that the long school holiday has begun.
Embu branch treasurer Bancy Njoki said they will be working closely with the Children's Department, security and administrative agencies to ensure anyone who participates in the illegal cultural practice is arrested and prosecuted.
Speaking to the press on Friday, she said circumcising girls was permanently denying them the right to a quality life and urged community members to report any emerging cases to the relevant authorities for action.
She said the lobby was concerned that the practice was creeping back after the initial successful anti-FGM campaigns that saw a lot of people, especially in the upper Embu county abandon the culture.
Last year, more than 10 people were arrested and prosecuted after they were discovered to have secretly conducted FGM on girls in the area.
Njoki urged the county Gender Department to support the lobby with vehicles to enable its outreach to at-risk girls. - KNA
