Women go After Female Doctor Who Wants FGM Legalised

Women leaders have now gone after Dr Tatu Kamau, who is seeking the legalisation of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Led by Federation of Women Lawyers chairperson, Josephine Mong’are, the leaders stated that the idea was retrogressive and it was a shame that it had been proposed by a doctor.

“It is a bad. Even the Constitution outlaws retrogressive cultures. As a doctor, she should inform us the positive side of FGM,” stated Ms Mong’are.

Former Marakwet East MP Jebii Kilimo echoed the same sentiments stating that the doctor's reasons were not convincing.

[caption caption="Former Marakwet East MP Jebii Kilimo"][/caption]

“That case is misplaced. She is not talking about challenges that women who have undergone the cut experience.

"The law against FGM was drafted and passed to protect people from cultures that were harmful,” stated Kilimo.

The acting chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission, Dr Florence Wachira, termed Dr Kamau’s reasoning on culture as flawed adding that the approach should be more holistic.

“Those who undergo FGM are usually young and cannot make decisions.

“Regions, where FGM is widely practised, do not have enough hospitals in the first place. We are not talking of Nairobi, Kiambu or Nyeri counties,” she revealed.

In her argument, Dr Kamau remarks that stopping women from undergoing the cut yet men are allowed to get circumcised is discriminatory.

According to her, banning the practice is tantamount to embracing Western culture and disregarding local practices as inferior.

[caption caption="Dr Tatu Kamau"][/caption]