A nominated member of the Nakuru County Assembly says more than 100 girls have been rescued so far from Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) through hotlines.
Esther Mengere started distributing cellphone numbers to girls in Naivasha and Narok to help curb FGM in January 2015.
The MCA said they decided to devise the method to assist them in the fight against the outdated traditional practice.
“We gave out our phone numbers to students and pupils hailing from areas prone to rampant cases of FGM and they call every time their parents are about to take them for the cut,” she said.
According to Mengere, teenage girls were able to alert them on time when confronted with the cruel possibility of facing the knife.
“We also involved members of the administration, security agents and local leaders to accomplish our goals. They have been able to reach out to the girls on time. The hotlines are on all the time, they are responded to swiftly incase of an emergency,” said Ms Mengere.
She says together with other members of a group dedicated to fight FGM, have also been holding campaigns in FGM prone areas including Namucha in the outskirts of Maai Mahiu and other remote villages.
The group members have been conducting campaigns in both primary and secondary schools. She revealed that the practice was still common among internally displaced persons (IDPs) .
“FGM is still practiced among the IDPs, but it’s highly discreet,” said the civic leader.