Poverty, lack of education and deeply rooted cultural beliefs are continuing to expose thousands of girls in Kenya to female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, with those living in pastoralist communities and informal settlements facing the greatest risk, the Girl Child Network (GCN) has warned.
The organisation says economic struggles, limited awareness of the importance of education and resistance from influential traditional leaders have slowed efforts to end the harmful practices, despite years of campaigns by the government and child protection organisations.
Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation on Wednesday, the organisation's Safeguarding Lead, Patrick Kibe, said many families struggling with drought, food shortages and limited sources of income sometimes resorted to marrying off their daughters to secure resources needed to sustain their households.
He explained that in some pastoralist communities, marriage negotiations involve the exchange of livestock, with families receiving cattle, goats and other valuable assets as dowry, making early marriage an economic option for households facing difficult circumstances.
“Poverty often forces families, particularly in pastoralist communities, to prioritise survival over children's rights and education. During severe drought, for instance, parents may find themselves choosing between keeping their daughters in school and marrying them off in exchange for livestock or other resources to help sustain the family,” Kibe said.
FGM, which involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons, remains a major child protection challenge in Kenya and several other African countries.
The practice has no medical benefits and exposes girls and women to serious health complications, including excessive bleeding, infections, difficulties during childbirth, psychological trauma and long-term reproductive health problems.
Kenya outlawed FGM through the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2011. However, the practice continues in some communities, where cultural expectations, beliefs about a girl's suitability for marriage and pressure to conform to traditional definitions of womanhood remain deeply rooted.
Child marriage is also closely connected to these harmful practices, often forcing girls out of school and exposing them to early pregnancies, domestic violence and a future with limited opportunities for financial independence.
Kibe said unequal control of family wealth further contributed to the problem, particularly in pastoralist households where men traditionally make decisions over livestock, land and other valuable property.
He noted that although women play a major role in looking after livestock and managing household responsibilities, they often have little influence over how family resources are used or decisions affecting their children are made.
According to Kibe, this imbalance leaves women and girls with limited power to challenge early marriages and other cultural practices that violate their rights.
He also identified low levels of education among parents as another major obstacle, saying children from families with little or no formal schooling were more likely to experience interrupted education and remain trapped in poverty.
He observed that some parents did not fully understand the long-term opportunities that education could offer their children, making it difficult to convince them to keep girls in school instead of preparing them for marriage.
“The majority of parents we interact with in pastoralist communities have no formal education, and this influences how they view their children's schooling. While some uneducated parents recognise the importance of education and encourage their children to attend school, many struggle to appreciate its value, leaving their children trapped in a cycle of limited educational opportunities,” Kibe maintained.
The safeguarding lead warned that limited parental education could allow harmful cultural practices to continue from one generation to another, as children who miss out on schooling have fewer opportunities to question traditions or challenge the conditions that expose them to exploitation.
Beyond household poverty and limited education, Kibe pointed to influential traditional leaders and cultural gatekeepers who continue to resist efforts to change practices from which they benefit.
Citing Turkana, he said some traditional figures receive a share of dowry payments before the families involved in marriage negotiations, creating financial interests that make it harder to eliminate child marriage.
He added that such individuals often command considerable influence within their communities, with residents more likely to follow their instructions than those of government administrators.
Kibe further explained that patriarchal beliefs shape how boys and girls are raised, with some communities preparing girls for marriage at a very young age while teaching boys to become family providers and protectors.
"Well, for them, it's their way of life. One, it's something that has been done for years and years before, and it's also how they are socialised. So you will find that when a girl is growing up, she's being prepared to be a wife as early as when she is maybe nine years, 10 years, you know, and the boy is being prepared also to be a husband and to mind the community, provide the security and all that."
He said these expectations had normalised early marriage in some communities, with daughters sometimes viewed as a source of wealth because of the livestock and other benefits families receive through dowry arrangements.
The Girl Child Network official also linked the persistence of FGM and child marriage to repeated disruptions in children's education, pointing to prolonged drought and the Covid-19 pandemic as events that affected school attendance and left vulnerable girls exposed to harmful practices.
He maintained that ending FGM and child marriage would require more than encouraging school enrolment, arguing that interventions must also address poverty, unequal control of family resources and cultural structures that continue to place girls at a disadvantage.
Kibe's remarks highlight the challenges facing child protection organisations as they seek to change long-standing traditions while addressing the economic pressures that make some families continue to practise early marriage and FGM.