Marvi Lacar

PROJECT: Escape: ESCAPE: PHOTO ESSAY

For the Maasai tribe of Kenya, female circumcision (currently refered to by law as Female Genital Mutilation or FGM) is considered a rite of passage. It is a prerequisite to marriage as it is believed to turn a girl into a woman and cleanse her blood, which will finally make her worthy of a man’s touch. It is also believed to stifle her libido thus ensuring her fidelity to her husband. Girls undergo this rite from as early as 8 to 15 years of age.

Immediately following circumcision is marriage, which brings in a significant amount of livestock and cash flow to the girl's family. For a poor pastoral family, a gir'’s dowry will mean a rise in status in their community because property commands respect. Property however, is not limited to inanimate objects. Girls and women are considered property. They can be exchanged, married off or banished at the will of the husband, father, brothers or even uncles. The man is the final decision-maker and to contradict him would be an unfathomable act of disrespect. A girl cannot scream or cry when her clitoris and labia minora are cut off for she is not to disobey the will of her father. Once she is married, she can no longer proceed in her studies as she is to tend to her obligations as a wife. She is to cook, clean, and procreate.

Naanyu Sekut cries while her head is shaved in preparation for her wedding. She is approximately 13-14 years old and is to wed a man more than twice her age. Her husband-to-be facilitated her circumcision a year earlier when he chose her to be his bride. Though it is customary and respectful for the bride to cry during this ceremony, her sorrow is genuine as she can no longer visit her own village and family without the permission of her husband.
  
A Masaai villager displays the traditional blade used to circumcise young girls before the practice became illegal in Kenya. Maasai are a pastoral group mostly clustered in the Rift Valley. They practice circumcision on both boys and girls during puberty years as a rite of passage to adulthood. Though female circumcision and child marriage has been illegal for a number of years, these practices still occur in Maasai land where the act of dowry offering still holds ground. A girl's dowry can prove to be very lucrative to an impoverished family like many Maasai. Since a girl cannot be married off unless she is undergoes the rite of passage to womanhood, circumcision goes hand in hand with early marriage. Traditionally a young girl is expected to quit school after she is wed in order to perfom her wifely duties such as cooking, cleaning, procreating and caring for the children of her husband's wives.
  
Naanyu Sekut cries on her wedding day as she is escorted out of her village by her family to join her husband.
     
  
Naanyu Sekut enters her husband's village for the first time and is greeted with the customary verbal hazing by the women and children.
  
Acting on a tip from an informant, Narok district police officers raid a village in search of a young girl ready for circumcision. According to tradition, a girl has to be circumcised in order to become a woman and be fit to marry. Since a girl cannot be married off unless she is undergoes the rite of passage to womanhood, circumcision goes hand in hand with early marriage. Since 2001, early marriage and female circumcision were banned in Kenya, though the practice quietly continues mostly in the remote parts of Maasai land.
   
Claiming to be the father of the bride, Oloitiring'ai Sekut confronts Narok district police officers who were conducting an anti-circumcision raid in the village. Though he and the rest of the villagers adamantly denied practing female circumcision, Sekut eventually presented a young girl of about thirteen years of age who was wed the previous day. Sekut was eventually identified as the bride's uncle and claimed to be the father following Maasai tradition in which a male relative takes the stead of a child's father if he is indisposed.
     
  
Child bride, Seleyian Sekut is taken into protective custody by Narok district police officers after a raid on their village on December 5, 2007 in Oldonyo, Narasha. The groom and bestman were also arrested.
  
Realizing she is being taken away from her village and family Seleyian Sekut starts to cry hysterically as police and rescue officials console her.
   
Young girls study inside the mess hall of the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls. The Tasaru Safehouse supports board, lodging and education of young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. A majority of the girls who escape to Tasaru cite "education" as their reason for leaving their families meaning that they do not want to quit their education which would have been their only option after circumcision and marriage. Though the girls are only at the safehouse during their school break, they spend a significant amount of their time there studying believing that education is their only way out of poverty and repressive traditional practices. The Tasaru Ntomomok Safehouse for Girls is funded by VDay and UNFPA.
     
  
Mary Solio, 19, is one of the first rescues of the Tasaru Ntomomok Rescue Center. Mary was raped by her husband while she was held down by three of her uncles. Though she became pregnant as a result of the rape, she continued her education under the sponsorship of Tasaru while her mother took care of her child. She is now reconciled with her family and has a part-time job as a primary school teacher in her village. She continues to visit the girls and rescue workers at Tasaru.
   
Salula Sylvia Naingisa, 11 prays during an evening fellowship inside the grils dorm at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls. Since many of the Masaai are Christian, workers at the center seek the aid of the Church to use their influence and reach to preach against FGM and early marriage. Many of the pastors who were among the first in their community to be educated during the British rule are strident proponents of education for all genders.
   
Pirias Jeniffer Kiok, 17 sets her Bible on the study table of her dormroom at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls. Jeniffer arrived in Tasaru at the age of 14 a few days short of becoming someone's wife. Feeling betrayed and disrespected by her disobedience, her parents do not wish to see or hear of her. Her faith, she says, is a great source of strength and she continues to look forward to the day when she will be reunited with her family.
     
  
Lato Caroline Gilisho, 17, inside her dormroom at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls December 19 in Narok, Kenya. The Tasaru Safehouse supports board, lodging andThis model is used by counselors at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls in sensitization sessions where they dissuade community members against female circumcision. The Tasaru Safehouse supports board, lodging and education of young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. There are three forms of female circumcision: (1) Sunna, the cutting of the upper internal genitalia with or without excision of the clitoris, (2) Excision (practiced by the Masaais), the cutting of the clitoris and the labia minora (pictured above) and (3) Infibulation, cutting of the external genitalia and stitching of the vaginal opening. education of young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. Caroline arrived at the center at the age of thirteen to escape an arranged marriage. Instead of using the money given to her for groceries and supplies for the ceremony, she used it to pay for her fare to Narok. She is currently in her last year of school and serves as a class prefect. While inherently bright, she is also a hardworker. Caro, as her friends call her, wakes up at around 3:30 in the morning during school holidays to study. Her parents continue to refuse her despite numerous interventions by Tasaru counselors. One counselor recalled Caro saying that after she finishes school and becomes an important leader in the community, she will drive back to her village in her own car to visit her parents. Although rejected by her own family, Caro harbors no ill will towards them. She continues to value her Maasai roots though feels strongly against FGM and early marriage. She hopes to one day go back to her community and serve as a positive influence for a younger generation of girls.
  
The girls stay at the Safehouse during their school breaks in April, August and December. During this time, new girls arrive at the center as these months are the usual months for circumcision rituals. The girls tend to immediately take in the new addition and support her in her transition to a new environment. The Tasaru Ntomomok Safehouse for Girls is funded by VDay and UNFPA.
   
Salula Sylvia Naingisa, 11, grooms Semerian Janet Pere, 17, while Sereya Emily Nchoko (right), 12, primps in front of the mirror at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls on December 26, 2006 in Narok, Kenya. The Tasaru Safehouse supports board, lodging and education of young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. The Tasaru Ntomomok Safehouse for Girls is funded by VDay and UNFPA.
     
  
Lato Caroline Gilisho, 17, inside her dormroom at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls December 19 in Narok, Kenya. The Tasaru Safehouse supports board, lodging and education of young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. Caroline arrived at the center at the age of thirteen to escape an arranged marriage. Instead of using the money given to her for groceries and supplies for the ceremony, she used it to pay for her fare to Narok. She is currently in her last year of school and serves as a class prefect. While inherently bright, she is also a hardworker. Caro, as her friends call her, wakes up at around 3:30 in the morning during school holidays to study. Her parents continue to refuse her despite numerous interventions by Tasaru counselors. One counselor recalled Caro saying that after she finishes school and becomes an important leader in the community, she will drive back to her village in her own car to visit her parents. Although rejected by her own family, Caro harbors no ill will towards them. She continues to value her Maasai roots though feels strongly against FGM and early marriage. She hopes to one day go back to her community and serve as a positive influence for a younger generation of girls.
  
Pirias Jeniffer Kiok, 17, poses for a portrait inside her classroom at St. Mary's Secondary School. Jeniffer escaped from early marriage because she wanted to continue with her education. She knew that if she were to wed, she would have had to quit school and fulfull her "wifely duties."
   
Sereya Emily Nchoko, 12, hands over an assignment to teacher, Lorna Nimishoi, while others review school lessons inside a classroom at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls. The Tasaru Safehouse supports board, lodging and education of young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. Traditionally a young girl is expected to quit school after she is wed in order to perfom her wifely duties such as cooking, cleaning, procreating and caring for the children of her husband's wives. The girls stay at the Safehouse during their school breaks in April, August and December. While they use this time to relax, many still continue to brush up on their studies believing that education will lift them and their families out of poverty. The Tasaru Ntomomok Safehouse for Girls is funded by VDay and UNFPA.
     
  
Takaya Rose Nkurumwa, 13, timidly explains her reason for seeking refuge at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls in front of center founder, Agnes Pareyio. The Tasaru Safehouse receives young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. Takaya ran away from her family who was preparing for her to be circumcised. Her uncle, Pastor William Nkurumwa, lent Takaya and a young boy from his congregation his bicycle. The pair set off at sundown riding nonstop through Maasai land where wild animals roam freely. They arrived safely at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls the next day. Takaya is one of the newest arrivals at the safehouse and is still shy and reserved but adjusting smoothly to her new environment. The Tasaru Ntomomok Safehouse for Girls is funded by VDay and UNFPA.
   
Renu Regina Masiaine, 15 sits inside her dormroom at the Tasaru Safehouse for Girls. The Tasaru Safehouse receives young Maasai girls from preteens to late teens who seek refuge from female circumcision and early marriage. In Maasai culture, Regina is considered an orphan because she does not have a father, who died when she was a baby. Her fate was to be decided by the men in her family who follow the father as the final decision maker. In Maasai culture women are considered property or juveniles incapable of making decisions for themselves. Thus when Regina expressed to her brother her desire to continue her schooling, he adviced her to take refuge at Tasaru where she would no longer be under the reach and jurisdiction of her uncles who they believed planned on having her circumcised and married off.