KILGORIS, Kenya (AP) — “I am worth defending!” a group of girls chant as they each take up a fighting stance.
They are about to practice combat techniques. And no, they are not part of a martial arts club. They are Maasai girls living at a boarding school in Transmara in western Kenya, which doubles up as a rescue center for teens who have escaped early marriage and female genital mutilation.
“We learn how to protect ourselves, how to protect our bodies,” said Grace Musheni, 14, who has been living and studying at the Enkakenya Centre for Excellence since 2023.
The center was set up in 2009 by Kakenya Ntaiya, a Maasai woman who was subjected to genital cutting herself. It doesn’t just offer a safe haven for girls at risk of early marriage: it also provides a free high school education as an incentive for parents to allow their daughters to stay in school instead of undergoing the cutting ritual that is still common for Maasai girls between the ages of 8 and 17.
Once a girl is circumcised, she is considered an adult and ripe for marriage, meaning an abrupt end to childhood and education for many.
“Most child marriages are caused by poverty in families,” Musheni explains. “Because of this poverty, you can get that a parent can allow their daughter to be married by an old man — because the family can be paid.”
While Ntaiya was unable to escape genital mutilation herself, she convinced her father to allow her to continue her education, and she now holds a Ph.D. in education from the University of Pittsburgh and multiple awards for her work.
“I am a beneficiary of proper education and I really wanted to show my community how important it is to empower women and girls,” she says.
Although Kenyan law prohibits genital mutilation and marriage below age 18, both are still practiced, especially in rural areas where education levels remain low. The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey by the government found that 56.3% of women with no education had undergone genital mutilation, compared to 5.9% of women who had studied past secondary school.
Girls’ education apparently has an impact on gender-based violence too, with 34% of Kenyan women surveyed saying they were victims of physical violence, a figure that drops to 23% for women with education.
But that is still alarmingly high. So on top of providing education, the Enkakenya Centre partners with I’m Worth Defending to teach combative self-defense skills. It’s not so much so that they can physically fight potential abusers —- although they could — but it teaches them to be assertive in all areas of their lives.
“We train them with basic principles of assertiveness and boundary setting, which includes verbal and physical techniques,” says Amelia Awuor from I’m Worth Defending. “These skills instill confidence to speak up against violations or fight off physical threats.”
The training gave 14-year-old Rahab Lepishoi power to speak up for other girls. During a recent visit to her older sister, she learned that the girls in the village were about to be circumcised, including an old childhood friend. “I told her about the dangers of FGM and to come with me to my home to avoid (it),” Lepishoi says.
She is following in the footsteps of her educators, who visit remote communities in Transmara every year to raise awareness about genital mutilation, early marriage and the importance of education. “Now when I go to a place, I apply that skill of assertiveness and confidence. I educate my friends, so that when they meet with a boy, they will be confident and say what they mean,” says Lepishoi.
The self-defense classes also offer some protection against sexual abuse, which can end up trapping many in violent marriages. “When a girl reports to her parents that she has been abused, it is common for the parents to force the girl to marry the man that abused her,” said Musheni.
Purity Risanoi, 15, has been at the school for five years. Her mother is a widow and raised her five children alone, but cultural pressures from her community remain. “My family is still very traditional,” she says. “When a girl grows up, she is expected to get married and she cannot choose who to marry.”
Her solution? Keep studying. One day, she wants to be a lawyer.
Musheni meanwhile dreams of a career as a software engineer. She wants to come back here and use technology to uplift her community. “Girls can achieve great things,” she says. “I want to inspire others to chase their dreams.”
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Nicholas Komu And Zelipha Kirobi, The Associated Press
