FRONTIERS PROJECT
The Female Genital Cutting (FGC) Alternative Rite Intervention: A Case Study of the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)/Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO) Project in Kenya

This study, conducted with PATH, evaluated the effectiveness of a program by the Kenyan nongovernmental organization MYWO that provides girls with an alternative coming-of-age rite that excludes FGC. The study found that ethnicity influenced attitudes and practices surrounding FGC and coming-of-age rites, and that the contribution of the alternative rite intervention to the abandonment of female genital cutting depends on the sociocultural context in which the practice takes place. The alternative-rite approach seems to be most effective when: (1) other institutions or cultural trends support a change of attitude toward female genital cutting; and (2) sensitization activities precede the alternative-rite intervention.

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Location

Kenya

Duration

February 2000–February 2001

Population Council researcher

Jane Chege

Non-Council collaborator

Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)

Donor

US Agency for International Development

Publications/Resources
Council researchers' names appear in boldface type. 

2002
"Kenya: Community sensitization must precede alternative coming-of-age rite," FRONTIERS OR Summary no. 27. Washington, DC: Population Council. (PDF, 284 KB)

2001
Chege, Jane, Ian D. Askew, and Jennifer Liku. "An assessment of the alternative rites approach for encouraging abandonment of FGC in Kenya," FRONTIERS Final Report. Washington, DC: Population Council. (PDF, 1.2 MB)

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See Also

• Kenya

• Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

• FRONTIERS Kenya

• FRONTIERS Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Offsite Link

• INTACT Network (a Population Council initiative to enhance communications and research utilization in the FGM/C field.)

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