This week, we have shared initiation ceremonies practiced by various Kenyan communities. In these stories, we have learnt about the rituals practiced traditionally and more importantly, the significance of these rituals. Initiation was an important threshold that members of a community were expected to cross; in many communities, crossing this threshold involved circumcision of both boys and girls.
To date, male circumcision is not only widely practiced but is also advocated for by health practitioners. It remains an important and accepted rite of passage for young men. On the flip side, female circumcision has largely been abandoned by many communities due to the adverse effects it has on the health and future of young girls.
Over the years, many female initiates have lost their lives after undergoing female genital mutilation. Some girls have bled to death while others have contracted fatal infections. Those who have lived through this ordeal have suffered excruciating pain during their menstrual period and childbirth.
While the devastating effects of female circumcision are visible, with the practice even being outlawed by the Kenyan government, some communities continue to hold on to it. Young girls are still forced into this ritual and older women who did not undergo it in their early years are coerced into taking part as adults. This begs the question: why?
Beyond the ceremonial processes of ushering young girls into a new stage of life, initiation was also a time when a girl was taught the ways of the community. Usually, girls undergoing circumcision were secluded for some time and taught about marriage and motherhood. It was a time during which elder women in the community passed on knowledge they held. This knowledge had been acquired in part through experience and in part taught to them as they went through the same phase of their lives. Metaphorically, circumcision was a time when young girls were handed the cultural torch and tasked with keeping it burning until it was their turn to hand over to a new group of initiates.
Once a girl was circumcised, she was a child no more. She was treated as an adult for having undergone this rite of passage. She held a different status than those who were yet to be initiated and because of all the information given to her during seclusion, she was deemed very knowledgeable. She had learnt about womanhood from respectable women and was therefore considered equipped for marriage and all the accompanying respect that married women and mothers would be accorded. For these communities, to let go of female circumcision would be to extinguish the torch that has been burning for years on end. However, it is possible for tradition to live on in the absence of female genital mutilation.
Communities are now embracing alternative rites of passage to transition young girls into adulthood. The ceremony might differ from one community to the next but generally, parents send their daughters to attend external sessions organized by trusted institutions such as their local churches or schools. During this time, the girls are taught not only about their culture, but also about the sexual and reproductive health issues that are relevant to young women living today. In addition, they are made to understand the dangers of female genital mutilation and are taught how to educate other girls on the matter as well. Other families take a more subtle approach and simply have a sit down with their daughters and talk to them regarding the same. In some instances, a small marker of the transition is organized, such as a party or gift giving to celebrate the budding woman.
This way, the community lifeline is kept alive and a girl’s coming of age is celebrated without inherent danger to her life.