Kisii Women Representative Mary Otara has said that women are not doing ‘enough’ to combat Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Mrs Otara who was speaking in South Mugirango on Tuesday challenged women to rise up against the vice and save the girl child from the retrogressive culture.
According to her, women have gone mum and reverted to following orders given by their male counterparts, giving room for rise in FGM cases.
“As a woman, I want to say that we are not doing enough to combat this unacceptable and primitive culture. It’s our prime responsibility to rally against it but many of us choose to go silent over the matter in the name of respecting men who heads our families,” she said.
She urged her fellow women to consider reporting the matter whenever its arises to save girls from undergoing the cut which she said complicates child delivery during their advanced age.
“Just because some of us were subjected to it, it does not make it right. We spend time with our children and we are always aware when all these things are planned and even some of us are part of the planning. We know its dangers especially during child delivery and time has come to rally against it,” she added.
She vowed to work with provincial administration officers to ensure the perpetrators are apprehended and subjected to the rule of law.
“I know some are using the festive season as the perfect time to practice FGM. I am working with the authorities to ensure culprits are arrested to face the law. There have alternative means of imposing rites of passage and certainly not through FGM,” she said.