In the headlines
- Thread starter Cortedivoire
- Start date
Field Marshal
Elder Lister
A Guka marrying a one-year old? How now?
Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister
Early age betrothal, like something called beading among the Samburu. The girl grows knowing she's destined to be so and so's wife.
Sexual activity does not commence until after FGM at puberty.
Hidden tradition – girl child beading in Samburu communities
Jane Meriwas, ED of the Samburu Women Trust and a beaded girl (Photo: SWT)
Beading tradition, female genital mutilation and early marriages are intertwined in Samburu communities. KIOS partner organisation Samburu Women Trust (SWT) changes perceptions towards these harmful cultural practices in Kenya.
Campaigns against female genital mutilation (FGM) have been widespread in Kenya and around the world. There are various universal agreements on human rights, like The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW(external)), The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)(external) and The Maputo Protocol(PDF file)(external) on Human and People’s Rights on the rights of Women in Africa, which forbid all forms of discrimination, violence and harmful cultural practices against women and girls. Also Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs(external)) recognize gender equality as one of the goals and seek to universally eliminate all harmful cultural practices such as girl child beading, early forced marriages and female genital mutilation. However, beading as a harmful cultural practice has got far less attention due to its secrecy and being practised within one community only.