A Centuries Old Maasai Custom: Female Genital Mutilation

My series “Growing up Female in Maasai Culture” explores the challenges of being female in a society that represses the voices of Maasai girls, particularly on the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kenya. The series documents an unlawful Maasai FGM ceremony in Makuta, Kenya and focuses on portraits accompanied by testimonials from Maasai girls about the practice. 

Kenya’s abandonment of FGM was written into federal law in 2011, yet the practice remains widespread in remote areas of the country. “If I do not accept the ‘cut,’ I will be forced to leave,” says one Maasai girl from a remote village. “Where can I go? Girls are cast out from their communities if they’re not ‘cut.’” She explains that many girls undergo the process due to family and community pressures. Others express their hopes to change this culture and save girls from the health risks and emotional trauma.

For this series, I traveled to remote areas of Kenya making portraits and recording testimonials from Maasai girls, women, and men about the practice of FGM. Through this series, I aim to amplify female Maasai voices to break through prejudicial boundaries and increase awareness about the health risks and psychological trauma involved in the practice.

A 14-year-old girl gazes out over the dry landscape of Kenya’s Amboseli region, her thoughts burdened by the trauma of undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM). Now married and expecting her first child, she reflects on the psychological scars left by the ritual, a reality she faces too soon.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an invasive and cruel act that is done to girls and women with no medical reasoning behind it. This procedure is viewed as a cultural tradition and is usually carried out on girls ranging in age from newborns to 15 years old. It is estimated that 92 million girls 10 and up, have undergone female genital mutilation in Africa. I learned about FGM, in a Woman's Studies class during college. I thought, like others in my class, that FGM was a horrific crime against young girls and would be stopped. Sadly, that was 24 years ago and the practice exists still today. I hope this image brings awareness to this issue by informing others and brings about social change- Matilde Simas, Photographer.

An elderly Maasai woman sits in front of a hut where an unlawful female genital mutilation (FGM) ceremony is being performed in Makuta, Kenya, on November 2016.

Maasai male prospective suitors prepare for a community gathering to celebrate the female rite of passage ceremony in Makuta, Kenya, on November 2016.

Maasai youth collect a sacred branch in preparation for a female right of passage ceremony in Makuta, Kenya, on November 15, 2016.

Elderly Maasai woman recite prayer to a sacred branch in preparation for a female rite of passage ceremony in Makuta, Kenya, on November 15, 2016.

A Maasai girl sits with her mother for a portrait before undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM), a traditional rite of passage intended to mark her transition from childhood to adulthood. This practice is believed to diminish a woman’s sexual desire, thereby discouraging premarital sex and adultery. The procedure, known as clitoridectomy, can range from the removal of part of the clitoris to the excision of all external genitalia. In a dimly lit mud hut, an elderly woman performs the procedure using an "ormurunya," a customary tool. Afterward, a mixture of cow dung and milk fat is applied to the wound to stem the bleeding.

Maasai female youth in a remote village says "non-Maasai people come to my village and talk about how the rite of passage is wrong, but it is our tradition and something we have practiced for hundreds of years. They say unless we stop the rite, my parents are going to be prosecuted. If my parents are taken away what will I do. I will starve and have no place to go."

Many Maasai, particularly those who live near urban areas like Makuta, no longer announce their female rite of passage ceremnony. In many cases, Maasai young girls are taken into hiding to be circumcised out of view of the authorities.

"FGM" can lead to health issues such as severe bleeding, hemorrhage, sepsis, tetanus, urination problems, cysts, HIV/AIDS, infertility, complications during childbirth, and sometimes death. Many girls who have undergone the procedure also suffer psychological trauma from the experience. According to the UN, communities that practice female genital mutilation report a variety of social and religious reasons for continuing the practice. Seen from a human rights perspective, the practice reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against woman.

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