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{
    "id": 1031333,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1031333/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 288,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Wilson Sossion",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13171,
        "legal_name": "wilson sossion",
        "slug": "wilson-sossion"
    },
    "content": "Act, but has it served this country? We need to understand this so that we do not keep on debating the same issue over and over again. This Sessional Paper seeks to focus more in targeting areas of activities of FGM. Looking at the statistics in this country vis a vis the existence of the law, among the Somali Community, 94 per cent of their girls are subjected to FGM. This vice has gone on against the background of the existence of a law. Among the Samburu Community, FGM prevalence stands at 86 per cent, the Kisii Community at 84 per cent, whereas among the Maasai Community it stands at 78 per cent. These are United Nations statistics. I have not seen the statistics of the Kalenjin Community here, but I can confirm that FGM is still prevalent. Last weekend, I walked into a village where 50 married women had deserted their marital homes to go for circumcision. They had surrendered their children to their grandmothers. This practice is real. We should not only speak to it, but we need to focus on activities to stop it. In terms of education, FGM has been the biggest hindrance of the advancement of girls in the education sector. Other statistics here indicate that at the TSC, women in leadership, heads and principals, their numbers are at 27 per cent, while 73 per cent are men. The damage to girls at an early age has got an effect in terms of advancement in their later stages. In this House, it is one of the hindrances of granting women competitive politics, in the economy and in finding their space. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there are other statistics. There is a lot of connection between FGM and underage mothers. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) data indicate that in some of those communities, majority of underage mothers are connected to FGM. We must now move from words to actions. We must listen to testimonies. We can no longer allow our girls to be victims of an archaic cultural practice that has been rendered irrelevant and illegal by our legal system"
}