Sara Nason, “Abandon the Knife” (2011)
This documentary on female genital mutilation will always be topical as long as the practice and the social and economic conditions that favour its survival continue in Africa and other parts of the world. The film is based around the lives and viewpoints of two Kenyan teenage girls, Gertrude and Nancy, both living in a rural community and keen on continuing their school studies, going to university and making something of themselves so they can help their people. Alas, their parents or their extended families have other plans in mind: marriage to wealthy suitors who can supply bride-prices of cows the families need so they can earn money from the animals’ milk. This of course would effectively scuttle the girls’ plans and ambitions so Gertrude, with the help of her mother Jane, escapes to her grandmother’s community and as a result Gertrude’s father Emanuel angrily divorces Jane and banishes her from his house and from seeing the other children.
The film is sensitive to the context in which the two girls confront the FGM issue: not all the senior adults approve of the practice and for many people, like Emanuel, the practice is a way of relieving pressure on them to support their families if the cut daughters are then married and bring in a bride-price – not a bad deal. The feelings and opinions of the girls involved in the transaction count for nothing; as future wives and mothers, they are expected to be faithful to their husbands (who may have extra-marital affairs on the side) and to work hard as well as bear children so undergoing FGM and surviving it is one proof that they can tolerate hardship and disappointment. Gertrude and Nancy meet resistance from their parents but a self-help group campaigning against FGM meets Emanuel and persuades him to allow Gertrude to continue her education and to attend an alternative rite-of-passage ceremony. The anti-FGM group also meets Nancy’s folks and convinces them to let Nancy to attend the ceremony and continue her schooling as well.
Nancy impresses this viewer as a quiet yet determined leader and rebel who convinces her family that she wants education and is prepared to pursue it to the ends of the earth. She is given a major speaking role at the alternative rite-of-passage ceremony and vows to be a role model.
The message conveyed by the film is intended to be a positive one for its target audiences: that communities, no matter how isolated or traditional they are, can change their attitudes towards FGM and allow their daughters to pursue an education and marry well without being cut. However the film neglects to mention that more needs to be done: specifically, the economic and social conditions that the families and communities endure and which enable customs like FGM to continue must be changed. Families should not have to rely on bride-prices to acquire cattle for income and they need help to enable all their children, boys and girls, to attend school regularly: this means giving them transport and access to water, markets to sell and buy food and other necessary items, and proper health, educational and other community facilities. Where will this help come from? The government in Kenya is said to be one of the most corrupt in the world; I’ve seen statements on the Internet to the effect that the average Kenyan household must pay up to a third of its annual income in bribes to others, including government officials. If poor families in Kenya cannot pay bribes to get what they need from the government, what else can they do?
At the time this review was being written, Gertrude and Nancy had finished primary school and were enrolled in secondary school. Gertrude had ambitions of becoming a doctor. We should wish the girls and their fellow students well.