Project details

Start date: January 11th 2016
Status: Finished
Duration: 3 months
Country: Kenya
Coordinator: Phyllis Livaha
Number of participants: 1
Number of local researchers: 2

Sustainable Development Goals

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Female Rights Challenge

A PAR concerning the rights for girls and women in Kisii, rural Kenya to decide whether or not to be circumcised.

Project team

Situation

Despite the Kenyan law against female circumcision, it is still practiced, but secretly. Most people, including the leaders, didn’t know what the law stated, but just knew if someone was caught circumcising a girl child, he/she would be arrested. A few people know about the health hazards of the practice, but most of them also said that medical practitioners are the ones who encourage it the most, and charge a hefty fee for doing so, regardless of whether it’s part of their culture or not. The Female Rights Challenge opened up dialogue about this sensitive topic and local stakeholders verified what women and girls’ needs and wishes are with regards to the topic of female circumcision.

PAR Design

Outcome

Local women decided to focus first on enhancing economic independence as a first step towards the ability to make independent decisions on female circumcision. As such, in this Women Empowerment Challenge, we decided to look at the different self-help groups in Nyaribari Chache Constituency to identify opportunities for economic enhancement for women.

Phyllis, Coordinator of the Female Rights Challenge:

“Through conducting PAR, I learned more than I could ever learn in any class.  The stakeholders felt engaged, valued, a sense of ownership, and responsible during the implementation of the project. The PAR approach was desirable because it created opportunities for building local capacity and enhancing continuity of involvement.”

Project images