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Boys from the Bukusu ethnic group, which prefers traditional circumcision using simple tools and no anesthesia, attend a circumcision ceremony in Bungoma, western Kenya. Apexchange

Kenyan men flee to escape enforced circumcision

The procedure is often carried out without anaesthesia.

THE CIRCUMCISION SEASON among Kenya’s Bukusu ethnic group brings a festive atmosphere: music, food and free-flowing beer.

For the uncircumcised men from other tribes in the area, however, it is not time to party, it’s time to flee.

At least 12 men from other tribes have been forcibly circumcised since the start of the circumcisions in August, according to police and local authorities. Others have sought refuge in police stations to avoid the knife’s cut.

The Bukusu ethnic group prefers traditional circumcisions using simple tools and no anaesthesia. But tradition can be disastrous. A 13-year-old boy lost his penis this month after it was chopped off by a circumciser, according to local press reports quoting his parents.

Adult male members of the Turkana community living in the Bukusu-dominated town of Moi’s Bridge are the majority of the victims of the forced circumcisions, according to local administrator Moses Okumu. A group of Turkana men wielding swords, bows and clubs held protests last week over the spate of forced procedures.

Michael Ngilimo said a family member was forcibly cut by a group moving house to house in search of uncircumcised men.

“They pounced on my uncle and circumcised him and left him there bleeding without treatment. I spent a sleepless nights as my uncle was bleeding,” he said. “I woke up very early to go and look for medicine.”

To avoid becoming victims, many other Turkana men in the area sleep in the corn fields and others seek refuge in the police station, he said. The Turkana will fight back if the trend continues, Mkai warned.

“All of us should respect each other’s customs. If you force someone to adopt your custom it may harm him,” he said. “We are known, we fight with the (rival tribe) Pokot. We fight every day. We have killed. We are not afraid of death.”

No one has been arrested for the involuntary circumcisions, said Okumu, the local government official. He warned that those who continue with the practice will be charged.

Wycliffe Khaemba, a laborer from the Bukusu tribe, said that because Turkana were living among them and marrying their girls, “we want them to be clean.”

“The foreskin keeps a lot of germs and it also prevents them performing in bed,” he said. Khaemba said that while some Turkana men are persuaded to agree to circumcision, others are “cowards” who have to be forced.

Circumcision is a big deal among the Luhya community, the second-largest ethnic group in Kenya, said Martin W.W. Waliaula, a local politician and business leader who is Bukusu.

“Cows are slaughtered, people feasting and dancing before the ceremony,” he said.

Among the Bukusu, when one is circumcised in the traditional way rather than going to the hospital, he is considered a hero, Waliaula said. Communities that do not circumcise which live among them are the Luo, Teso and Turkana. When a member of those communities marries a Bukusu woman the community may force some to be circumcised at the request of their Bukusu wives and in-laws.

“The spirit wants but the body is scared,” he said. “So the community helps them overcome their fear.”

Read: Uganda tests ‘rubber band circumcision’ in battle against HIV

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36 Comments
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    Mute Scipio
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:29 PM

    Enforced circumcision is horrific. Some people here think it’s a topic for humour. Would those same people be still making joke about women being forcibly having their genitals mutilated? I doubt it.

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    Mute Dungeon Master
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:34 PM

    Considering your lack of empathy for the children of Gaza,I’ll take your comment with a pinch of salt

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    Mute Stephen Kavanagh
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:40 PM

    Equal opportunities circumcision. Religions always place so much killjoy emphasis on the genital organs, they’re really not that interesting

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    Mute Roger Rabid
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:49 PM

    Dungeon – How are those photos coming along? You never linked them.

    27
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    Mute John R
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    Aug 11th 2014, 8:51 PM

    Except Stephen that this appears to be a cultural and not a religious phenomena.

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    Mute Jim
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    Aug 11th 2014, 10:34 PM

    Your a sensitive aul skin

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    Mute Jopmarsy
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    Aug 13th 2014, 5:59 AM

    Dungeon, considering your lack of empathy for the people trapped in the wonderful Islamic Caliphate in Iraq, I will also take your comments with a pinch of salt

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    Mute f m
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    Aug 11th 2014, 8:29 PM

    Forced genital mutilation is always barbaric.
    Except when Jewish people do it because their god says so.
    Don’t want to be anti Semitic now.

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    Mute Daddy De La Noche
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    Aug 11th 2014, 8:43 PM

    You think just Jewish people get circumcised because of their religion? Muslim people also do this, if don’t correctly I don’t see a problem, but this force barbaric circumcisions are not good

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    Mute mart_n
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    Aug 11th 2014, 8:52 PM

    ‘If done correctly I don’t see a problem’

    Would it be okay to tattoo an infant?.. I mean if it’s done correctly then I assume you wouldn’t see a problem with that either?

    How about the minor issue of bodily integrity.. should that not exist until a child is old enough to refuse the procedure?

    Religious belief should not trump the rights a person has towards the integrity of their bodies. Lopping off child’s foreskin when no medical necessity to do so exists, is barbaric; and any ‘secular’ state that allows it should take a good hard look at themselves.

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Aug 11th 2014, 9:38 PM

    It doesn’t matter if they are African Tribesmen, Jews, Muslims, Americans or whoever. Circumcision without concent is unjustifiable.

    I wouldn’t have any issue with it if the man being circumcised is 18 (preferably 21) and can make an informed decision not under duress.

    But all across the world, infant boys are having a piece of their body removed and having no say in the matter. It makes me sick knowing that parents will do this to their boys. I don’t care if it’s their “culture” or “religion”, it’s wrong. Also, a foreskin doesn’t harbour germs etc. That is total cr@p! It protects the glans penis. This should be condemned along with FGM.

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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Aug 11th 2014, 11:55 PM

    Qwerty, it is definitely not the same as female genital mutilation. Huge difference! Don’t exaggerate.
    Did you know, women who have circumsized partners are less likely to get cervical cancer because of the link with HPV virus.
    Qwerty, you sound so passionate about this issue. You must really dislike circumsized penises.

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Aug 12th 2014, 12:44 AM

    I didn’t state nor insinuate in my last comment that it was as bad as FGM. But, that it should be condemned as FGM already is.

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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Aug 12th 2014, 12:51 AM

    Why do you hate circumsized cock again?

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Aug 12th 2014, 12:53 AM

    That may be so, and equally using a condom will have the same effect. What I was getting at was the myth that is propagated by proponents of non-medical circumcision that somehow it is necessary for hygiene reasons. It would only make a difference to someone who rarely ever washes themselves and doesn’t wash properly.

    I’ve nothing against circumcision per se. Of course it has mechanical benefits. To each their own. What I am against is an irreversible, non-medical procedure being performed on infants who cannot concent, and adult men under threat of violence, threat of being shunned etc.

    As long as they are an adult when it’s done and they have been able to make a free decision then there’s nothing wrong with it.

    (The rest of my first reply disappeared when I posted it.)

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    Mute Gillian Foale
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    Aug 12th 2014, 3:34 PM

    Irish hospitals perform elective, non medical circumcision, no problem.

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    Mute Brian Gormley
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:24 PM

    Shiver up me spine, that story would give ye the willies

    136
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    Mute Patrick Brompton
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:24 PM

    Turkana men are not circumcised but traditionally they have the middle two teeth in the lower jaw removed without any form of anathesia at the age of about 12 as their sign of manhood.

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    Mute alpha_chaarlie
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    Aug 11th 2014, 10:43 PM

    Yeah because real men don’t have two front teeth on their lower jaw.

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    Mute Stephen Earle
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:33 PM

    Quick, boycott Kenya !!!

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    Mute Thosj Carroll
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    Aug 11th 2014, 9:38 PM

    For sake….leave kids alone!

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    Mute Mick Madden
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:32 PM

    Sounds like a good excuse for political asylum ! More on the way

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    Mute Sinéad L
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:33 PM

    crap

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    Mute Liamo
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    Aug 11th 2014, 8:54 PM

    Pretty barbaric to do this kind of thing. In a proper hospital, with proper after care, it’s fine, but if you don’t have that, you definitely want to avoid this like the plague. I can understand them guys fleeing completely. They needn’t bother with the tribal tradition excuses either. It’s dangerous of not done properly, so they shouldn’t be doing it. End of story.

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    Mute Wayne O'Fathaigh
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:51 PM

    Having visited and spent time with the Samburu I eventually asked my guide who was transitioning between being a warrior and an elder. He is well educated, bright and engaging and was happy to speak about this. He was very open about his son and hoping he would pass the test with honour !When I asked about his two daughters, he spoke of wanting to protect them from the same & the lengths his brother had gone to to protect his girls!

    Both the Samburu and Maasai boys do it voluntarily as part of becoming warriors it is not always forced upon them, the girls however have no choice!

    There are merits and drawbacks to the tribal system used in Kenya but not all circumcisions are forced

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    Mute Dublinjonny
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:20 PM

    No anesthesia?!?! They must have some set of balls those lads ……… Oh wait …….

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    Mute Paddy Mac
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:26 PM

    You’re mixing up your castration and circumcision dear.

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    Mute Bert McCann
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:31 PM

    No skin off their nose.

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    Mute Donal Costello
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:23 PM

    They should tell them to cut that out….

    Oh wait…

    17
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    Mute Charlie Mountney
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    Aug 12th 2014, 1:15 AM

    I presume that having a foreskin gives us some evolutionary advantage or we would not have one. What interests me is how and why these practices originated.

    That is totally beyond my imagination and imagination is not something I am short of. Amongst other things.

    Sorry about that.

    Off to Google some answers.

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    Mute Cez Miname
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    Aug 11th 2014, 9:18 PM

    Will this be grounds for asylum?!

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    Mute Kev
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:23 PM

    Ah shur it’s grand

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    Mute bob®
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    Aug 11th 2014, 7:20 PM

    So they,’cut they’re stick’ so to speak….!

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    Mute Silver Fox
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    Aug 11th 2014, 10:00 PM

    Er blame the government and their cutbacks………

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    Mute Jim
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    Aug 11th 2014, 10:33 PM

    A the Kenyans are not bad aul skins

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    Mute Daniel R
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    Aug 12th 2014, 10:41 AM

    Culture is not your friend…

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