Maasai Girls Combat Gender-Based Violence By Learning Self-Defense

Girls scream, “No, no, no!” as they hit a cushion. They are rehearsing their fighting skills. Furthermore, they do not belong to a martial arts organization. These are Maasai girls who attend a boarding school in Transmara, Kenya, which also serves as a shelter for teenagers fleeing female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage. Since 2023, 14-year-old Grace Musheni has resided and attended classes at the Enkakenya Centre for Excellence. She claims that “we learn how to protect our bodies, how to protect ourselves, and even how to educate our parents.

” In 2009, the center was established. In addition to providing a safe refuge for females who might otherwise be married young, it also offers free high school education. This serves as a motivator for parents to let their daughters continue their education rather than subject them to Female Genital Mutilation, a practice that is still prevalent among Maasai girls between the ages of 8 and 17, depending on the year of their birth.

For many girls, childhood and education come to an abrupt stop when they are circumcised, as they are deemed adults and eligible for marriage. Even though it is illegal in Kenya, female genital mutilation and marriage before the age of eighteen are still common, particularly in rural communities with poor levels of education. According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2022, 5.9% of women with more than secondary school had undergone FGM, whereas 56.3% of women with no education had done so.

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