Thread by @thegirdlengr

My #FGM Confession🙏🏽
"I Circumcised Many Girls Because Many Men Reject Uncircumcised Girls And Often Return Them To Their Maiden Homes To Be Circumcised!"

Ms. Nkotito Oyie (58) Recalls:
“I started circumcising girls when I was 25 years of age. The job is well paying as I charged

Sh2000 for every girl I circumcised. During high seasons like long holidays, I could cut up to 10 girls a day.
My skills were in high demand as it was a taboo to find a girl who is not circumcised in the Maa community.
Girls get circumcised as early as nine years because of the

pressure from the community. At this stage, the circumcised girl is viewed as a mature person who can play a wife's roles.
Many girls opt for #FGM because many men in the Maasai Community reject uncircumcised girls and often return them to their maiden homes to be circumcised.
I

have witnessed many instances where men return girls who are not circumcised to their mother’s home. This makes girls seek to be circumcised early enough.
I have seen young girls faint after undergoing the cut because of excessive bleeding while others would struggle to nurse the

painful wounds for weeks.
I cut girls for 22 years and I know very well how the girls undergo a lot of pain after the cut. I do not know the main advantages of undergoing #FGM. I did it because I inherited the practice from my late mother.
I laid my tools down after attending a

sermon in a local church that condemned the act as the pastor described those perpetrating the practice as ‘enemies of God’.
The preacher said those earning an income from shedding innocent blood will remain poor. I saw it happening in my life because despite earning a lot of

money from the practice, I could not afford to educate my children and sometimes we went to bed on an empty stomach.
Abandoning the cut was not easy for me, as I had to face ridicule from the society who taunted me as a ‘betrayer’.
Many of my friends forsook me. They even called

me bad names because I stood firm in my commitment to my new faith, and instead encouraged many women to abandon the outdated culture."

#WomanLifeFreedom #WomensRightsAreHumanRights #WomanLifeFreedom #WomensHistoryMonth #WomensHealth #WomensHistory #WomensHistoryMonth2023 #FGM