“I am worth defending,” a group of girls chanted as they each took up a fighting stance.
They were about to practice combat techniques, and no, they are not part of a martial arts club. They are Masai girls living at a boarding school in Transmara in western Kenya, which doubles as a rescue center for teens who have escaped early marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM).
“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.
Photo: AP
The center was set up in 2009 by Kakenya Ntaiya, a Masai woman who was subjected to genital cutting.
It does not 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 Masai girls between the ages of eight 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 said. “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, she convinced her father to allow her to continue her education, and she now holds a doctorate 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 said.
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 government’s 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey found that 56.3 percent of women with no education had undergone genital mutilation, compared with 5.9 percent of women who had studied past secondary school.
Girls’ education apparently has an effect on gender-based violence, too, with 34 percent of Kenyan women surveyed saying they were victims of physical violence, a figure that drops to 23 percent for women with education.
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 is 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,” Amelia Awuor of I’m Worth Defending said. “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 said.
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,” Lepishoi said.
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,” Musheni said.
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 said. “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.
Meanwhile, Musheni 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 said. “I want to inspire others to chase their dreams.”
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