Kenya/Somalia: Female genital cutting among the Somali of Kenya and management of its complications

This article, published by the Population Council, reports on a study which researched the practice of infibulation, the severest form of female genital cutting (FGC), among the Somali community of Northwestern Province, Kenya. The authors found that FGC is deeply rooted and widely supported within the community. Reasons used to sustain the practice include religious obligation, family honour, virginity as a pre-requisite for marriage, and aesthetic preference. The authors also found that the health sector in the region was poorly equipped to serve women who had been cut, particularly infibulated pregnant women. In addition, healthcare staff were increasingly being approached to perform infibulations or re-infibulations.