A Kenyan woman who nearly died from horrific complications while being forced to undergo a female genital mutilation at the age of 12 has detailed the moment she decided to flee the abuse inflicted by male members of her tribe in order to set up a women-only village where men are banned.
Rebecca Lolosoli was left fighting for her life after her circumcision went wrong; she only survived because she lucky enough to be close to a hospital, however she had to spend the following month having regular blood transfusions to complete her recovery.
And yet FGM is just one of the many forms of terrifying abuse that women in the Sumburu tribe, which Rebecca, now 53, was born into, are subjected to at the hands of their male leaders.
Independt women: Rebecca Lolosoli, pictured right, fled her patriarchal tribe in Kenya after nearly dying when she was forced to undergo female genital mutilation
Girls-only: The 53-year-old founded the village of Umoja in Northern Kenya, a female-only society where men are banned
‘When I was a child, I saw so many things happening to the women, the girls,’ she said to Deutsche Welle. ‘We can be killed anytime. If the husband wants to kill you, he can kill you. We had no right to choose our husbands. We had no right to own anything. We had no right to live’.
The things she saw as a young girl who was treated as if being female made her worthless, inspired Rebecca to create a world where girls could escape the abuses she suffered.
The 53-year-old is now the matriarch of the village of Umoja, just six hours from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, where 48 women and as many as 200 children live in a women-only society, where men are not allowed except when hired to do labor, and the rules of a 500-year-old patriarchy don’t apply.
Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, was founded 27 years ago by Rebecca and 14 other women who hoped to give others girls and women a refuge from horrors that are unfortunately still ingrained in their country’s culture, such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, lack of educational opportunities, and rape.
‘We didn’t build the village as a women’s village without men; we were just given this name by the men here,’ Rebecca told the German publication. ‘It’s like a dirty word to them.’
Women’s rights remain a sore topic in Kenya, and even though the country’s laws have advanced, tradition has been hard to shake off, making life tough for women and girls.
Child marriage was outlawed in 2011 but it’s still practiced in many communities, where girls as young as 6 can be married to men as much as 40 years older. Female genital mutilation, which is also against the country’s law, has remained a central part of the African nation’s culture.
It’s a woman’s world: Umoja village serves as a refuge for girls and women trying to escape patriarchal traditions like child marriage and FGM
Helping hands: Although men are not allowed to live in the village, the women have hired some to do manual labor such as herding
Back in 1990, the issue of rape, particularly, bonded Umoja’s 15 founders, who all shared a history of being raped by British soldiers and, in traditional Kenyan fashion, being shunned by their families and husbands, who no longer considered them pure.
So, led by Rebecca, these women decided to start their own village, where the gender they were born with did not condemn them to a life of abuse.
They took over a patch of dry land with the help of Kenya’s then-Ministry of Culture, Heritage and Social Services, and began carving out a society that would treat women as they deserved- as equals to men.
Today, the women own the land that is Umoja village, a place that protects Kenyan women from abuse and allows them to pursue education and be economically independent.
While at the usual Kenyan village men sit in a circle to discuss important matters, not allowing women to express any opinions, in the Umoja matriarchy, leaders gather under the ‘tree of speech’ to make decisions, per The Guardian.
Residents of Umoja are completely economically independent, earning money from different activities that allow them to support themselves and their children.
The tree of speech: While in other Kenyan villages only men can make decisions, the women of Umoja gather around the ‘tree of speech’ to discuss important matters
Boys are allowed to learn too: Young boys from other villages are allowed to come into the women-only village if they vow to follow the rules
The core of their economy is beading: making beautiful, colorful, jewelry and adornments that are part of the traditional clothes of the Sumburu people, and selling it to tourists.
They also profit from charging a small entrance fee to people who are curious about what an all-female world would look like, and run a a campsite about half a mile from their village, where tourists on safaris stay.
The women have opened a school on their land which children from other villages are allowed to attend, and the more experienced residents of Umoja often educate women and girls from nearby villages on important issues such as early marriage and female genital mutilation.
Although men are not allowed to live in the village, they are hired by the women to do tasks like herding, and young boys from other villages are allowed inside if they promise to respect the rules.
As for how they procreate without men, the women admit that even if men are not allowed to live with them, they still use them to have children. Girls from Umoja often have boyfriends from other villages and have children who they raise on their own, according to the Guardian.
A new world: Back in 1990, 15 women who had been raped by British soldiers and shunned by their families got together to make a refuge for other women
They still become moms: The women of Umoja often date men from other villages and have children who they then raise and support on their own
This women-only village has become a source of hope for women all over the country who, having heard about it, see a possibility of escaping their destiny of living as a second-class citizen.
It has also served as inspiration for similar villages such as Nachami, Suba and Hang’ida, all places where women set the rules.
But, even though these brave women have managed to make a world of their own, this break from traditional Kenyan society has not come without a price. Recently, three of Umoja’s women lost their lives to malaria, and bandits often come knocking, a common occurrence in northern Kenya.
Besides the usual troubles of rural African life, the women also have to deal with being ostracized by a culture that sees them as traitors.
‘When women take on men’s responsibilities in our culture like the way these women are doing, they become outcasts,’ nearby villager Aleper Lomukunyu said to Deutsche Welle. ‘Any woman who goes against our culture becomes a traitor of the community’.
Inspiring others: Umoja has served as the model for other female-only villages in Kenya like Nachami, Suba and Hang’ida
A tough bunch: Umoja residents have suffered attacks from intruders in the past and now take turns protecting their home overnight
Because they have suffered attacks from intruders in the past, the women now take turns protecting their home overnight.
Still, Rebecca and the women of Umoja plan to continue building their own society. Thanks to a video that told the village’s story and recently went viral, the women are receiving plenty of attention and praise from all over the world.
They have partnered with the University of Prince Edward Island to sell their jewelry through Etsy and ship it to North America.
‘I think this village will continue to exist for a long time because women need a place to go when they have problems,’ Rebecca said. ‘Fighting for the rights of women – it’s something I have in my heart’.