The Kenyan parliament passed a bill this month to end female genital mutilation in the country. Carol, a Form 1 student at Daraja, wrote about why this bill is important to Kenyan girls and women.

“Weep not child,” Kenya consoles its treasure

Carol

I think this is a great step by the Kenyan government. The girl child is a very important treasure and female genital mutilation is one of the major problems that they face.

The cut is very dangerous because some girls lose their lives, some have problems when delivering and some have wounds that take a long time to heal. When some girls get the cut they continuously bleed, and when this is practiced in remote areas the girls may die since there is no one to attend to them. The girls who have received the cut should not count themselves less but should fight for the other girls and their children from this happening to them. Even though the practice is taken as a graduation into womanhood, it should be gotten rid of completely.

We should congratulate our government by playing our part. We should educate our fellow Kenyans on its consequences and also us girls, we should resist it by educating our parents about how bad it is. Female genital mutilation was left behind by time and we should all stand together to fight against it.

I’m proud for the step that Kenya has made and I’m waiting on to see that girls are free and can hold their heads up.