• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Sixteen Year-Old Kenyan Youth Wins International Children's Award for Work to End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 October 2007, 06:00 CDT

PLEASANTON, Calif., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- World of Children (WOC) announced today that Teresa Cheptoo is a winner of the 2007 WOC Founder's Award for her heroic work to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Kenya. Cheptoo's organization will receive a $15,000 cash award from WOC to further her work in New York City on November 8, 2007, at the WOC Annual Awards Ceremony at UNICEF House. In 2002, WOC created the Founder's Award to honor young people who have made extraordinary contributions to the lives of other children.

Female genital mutilation/cutting is defined by the World Health Organization as "the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for cultural or other non- therapeutic reasons." An estimated 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM/C. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 168,000 girls were at risk of or have faced FGM/C in the United States which passed a law in 1996 making unlawful the act of practicing a FGM/C on a minor, punishable by five years in federal prison and/or a fine.

The practice is usually performed on girls between the ages of 4 and 14 years, but also is done to infants, women about to get married, women pregnant with their first child, and women about to give birth. The majority of girls and women who have undergone FGM/C live in Africa, with the highest rates among women in Northeast Africa. Three million girls and women are at risk of FGM/C annually.

Teresa Cheptoo began her advocacy work on behalf of girls and women in her Kenyan village by establishing Anti-Female Genital Mutilation/Early Marriages Advocacy Clubs, first in the Chepareria Primary School, and later, with the help of her teachers, in 13 additional schools near her home. The primary goal of the clubs is to recruit at least two girls to say no to FGM/C and two boys at each school to support the girls' stand/decision. Approximately 200 boys and girls currently are members of the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation/Early Marriages Advocacy Clubs. UNICEF estimates that 32% of Kenyan women aged 15-49 have undergone FGM/C.

Cheptoo's work was recognized this past March by the United Nations (UN) when she was invited to represent Kenya on a youth panel on protecting the right to education for girls during the 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. "My ambition is to be a judge so I can outlaw this harmful practice," said Teresa Cheptoo. "It's a violation of basic human rights."

FGM/C is believed to be a virtuous practice for young girls in many African cultures. It is used as an initiation for girls into womanhood and mistakenly believed by some to enhance fertility and child survival. There are significant negative health and psychological impacts associated with FGM/C. Death from bleeding can occur in addition to failure to heal, infection, scarring, urinary tract infections, hepatitis, and infertility. There also is tremendous physical pain and psychological trauma that must be overcome. It is not unusual for the procedure to be performed without anesthetic, and in a majority of cases, done by "circumcision practitioners" in unsanitary conditions who are not trained medical personnel.

Cheptoo approaches her work as a woman's empowerment issue. "Apart from the serious health hazards, this ancient tradition leads to early marriage and motherhood for girls," explained Cheptoo. "This in turn brings about an end to schooling and leads to other missed opportunities in life."

The social and economic consequences of FGM/C are substantial. Forty percent of Kenyan women who have undergone FGM/C experience domestic violence. These women are less likely to be educated, more likely to be impoverished and in a polygamous marriage, and at greater risk for HIV/AIDS.

Cheptoo's goal is to increase the number of advocates educating the community about the negative consequences of FGM/C. Her work has not been well received by all. She has been branded by her peers as a coward for not going through FGM/C, and her family has been ridiculed for being against culture and traditional values.

"We honor Teresa Cheptoo's courageous work to end the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting in Kenya at great risk to herself and her family," said Harry Leibowitz, Ph.D., Founder and Chairman of WOC. "Since this has been an accepted cultural practice, it is extremely important that someone within the culture is working to end it rather than outsiders. She is doing this at great risk to herself and her family."

There are a number of international treaties and conventions that call for an end to harmful traditional practices including the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the more recent, Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa that was adopted by the African Union in 2003 with a special focus on FGM/C.

World of Children provides cash grants to organizations around the world which make extraordinary contributions to improving the lives of children. Honorees are nominated by peers and colleagues and must go though an extensive application process. Over 100 individuals compete annually for 3-4 cash awards that range from $15,000 to as much as $100,000. Since 1998, WOC has awarded more than $2 million in cash grants to 62 children's organizations working in more than 35 countries, impacting millions of children worldwide. Muhammad Ali, three-time Heavyweight World Champion and humanitarian, is the Honorary Chair of WOC.

Meghan Pasricha, a Harvard University senior, also will receive a Founder's Award for her work to educate youth here and abroad about the dangers of smoking. Since 1998, the organization has given the WOC Health and Humanitarian Awards annually to adults for positively impacting children's lives. For more information about WOC, please visit http://www.worldofchildren.org/.

World of Children

CONTACT: Karen Strickland, +1-415-509-4343, or Brenda Dos Santos,+1-415-277-6974, both of World of Children

Web site: http://www.worldofchildren.org/

Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire

More News in this Category