More than 135 million women and girls, most in Africa and parts of the Middle East, have undergone genital mutilation. Every year, another two million girls risk the effects of a ritual in which all or part of a girl’s genitalia is removed, without anesthesia and often under squalid conditions. Resulting damage can include infection, extreme pain during sexual intercourse, sterility and increased susceptibility to the AIDS virus. However, hundreds of thousands of mothers and fathers continue to have their daughters undergo the procedure in the name of tradition.

The Kenyan government, World Vision and other humanitarian organizations are working to stop the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in this east African country. In December 2001, the Kenyan parliament passed legislation that outlawed carrying out FGM on a minor, despite backlash from traditionalists who insist that the procedure must be maintained to preserve their cultures.

World Vision runs educational programs in the Tot, Sabaot and Pokot communities. These programs encourage parents to abandon FGM for alternative rites of passage, and teach young men to value women’s decisions not to undergo the procedure. The organization also promotes education for girls in these communities as an alternative to early marriages, which often occur shortly after girls undergo FGM.