Latim – Circumcised

“In the morning they shaved my head and adorned me with a festive necklace. In fact, the whole day had a very festive atmosphere. In the evening they laid me out on a piece of animal skin in front of the house. The women held my legs and shoulders. It was terribly painful. Unimaginable...” These are the words of thirty-one-year old Elisabeth, a Samburu woman from Nangida village.

Female genital mutilation is very common in Northern Kenya. The Samburu tribe, who live in the parched bush of Northern Kenya, regard circumcision as part of their lives, something their ancestors have been practicing since time immemorial and therefore it’s necessary to continue the tradition. They won’t tell you any practical or other reason why circumcision or female genital mutilation should be practiced. It simply has always been done, will be done and that’s the end of it... The Samburu’s believe that if a woman is not circumcised, she is immature; she is of no value to society, she remains a child. She can get married only after she is circumcised and later, when she is old, she can finally gain a certain amount of respect in society. In the 21st century, a woman’s social standing in the Samburu society is still very low. Civilisation habits do not rule here. Here, life follows the flow of nature and thousands of years old customs. For the Samburu’s, the clitoris and the labia minora are something that can simply be shortened or cut off, just like one’s hair or nails.