To save women from the evil of female genital mutilation (FGM), President William Ruto has urged men to take action.
Ruto emphasized the significance of men acting as champions against FGM, citing its detrimental effects on women's well-being, during the launch of the G7 strategy to increase women's leadership in devolved units.
"Men should be champions against FGM because you know what it is. FGM destroys everything that would be good in a woman," said Ruto.
"I know we have set targets on the subject of FGM. I want to tell men to come forward and protect our women from FGM even if it is for selfish reasons. FGM destroys women, makes them less confident, less effective and creates many challenges," he added.
Did you read this?
The President expressed additional worry about the concerning data regarding early pregnancies, stating that the root causes of the problem must be addressed.
He made an appeal to leaders, both male and female, asking them to cooperate in order to protect children, especially girls, from the negative effects of female-to-child mutilation, early marriage, and early pregnancy.
"I am asking women leaders as I do men leaders to work in concert all of us to protect our children, especially from FGM, early marriages, and early pregnancies because it is destroying the future of many of our children," he implored.
As per the data from the Kenyan Demographic & Health Survey (KDHS) for 2022, 15 percent of women and girls in the country have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), which implies that 15 percent of them have undergone circumcision.
