Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2-28-2020
Abstract
Criminalization is an important aspect of anti-FGM/C policies and programs. In countries where FGM/C is practiced, the enactment of a law prohibiting the practice is an important indicator of progress toward abandonment. Criminalization is often seen as playing an important role in the declining prevalence of FGM/C. However, there is not much research on the link between the enactment of laws that prohibit and criminalize FGM/C and declining prevalence of the practice. The objectives of this study, therefore, were to assess the extent to which people obey the law on FGM/C; to investigate the reasons and causes that motivate people born into a tradition of FGM/C to obey or not to obey a law prohibiting FGM/C; and to establish the legal, policy, and program responses, across varying contexts, that would most effectively reduce the practice of FGM/C. The study was conducted in Kenya, where FGM/C is criminalized under the 2001 Children’s Act and the 2011 Prohibition of FGM Act.
Recommended Citation
Meroka-Mutua, Agnes K., Daniel Mwanga, and Charles Owuor Olungah. 2020. "Assessing the role of law in reducing the practise of FGM/C in Kenya," Evidence to End FGM/C: Research to Help Girls and Women Thrive. New York: Population Council.
DOI
10.31899/rh12.1026
Language
English
Project
Evidence to End FGM/C: Research to Help Girls and Women Thrive