Exclusive Photos of Tribal Circumcision Ceremony in Kenya

 

Yes, circumcision is still practiced in the Pokot tribe, in Baringo County of rural Kenya and maybe other rural villages around the world.

 

 One of the young girls, covered in an animal skin, cries after being circumcised. 

Circumcision is the practice cutting off the clitoris and outer genitalia of a female.

 

Reuters photographer Siegfried Modola recently captured this ceremony in rural Kenya via Daily mail. 

 

These pictures show frightened young girls lined up, draped in animal skin and covered in white paint, squat over large stones after being circumcised before villagers in Kenya. 

Four young Pokot girls stand outside one of the girl's homes just before the beginning of their circumcision ceremony

 

Although the cruel practice is now illegal in the country since march 2011.

 

But in many African tribes, traditions are more important than laws and circumcision is considered a rite of passage that marks their transition into womanhood so they can marry.  

 

One father said: 'It's a tradition that has been happening forever' and a mother said ' it makes them stronger and to show they can endure'
 

After the ceremony, the girls, now covered in animal skins and beaded necklaces, walk to where they will rest after the tribal ritual

A Pokot girl, covered in animal skins, is led bu village elders to a place where she will rest after being circumcised

Draped in animal skins, the Pokot girls sit naked on rocks before village elders perform the ritual

Members of the Pokot tribe gather round a fire before the ceremony, about 80 kilometres from the town of Marigat in Baringo County

Pokot girls run from their hut and make their way to a place where they will take off their clothes and wash during their circumcision ceremony

After the procedure, a Pokot girl is smeared with white paint to show she has undergone the rite of passage

A Pokot woman holds a razor blade after performing a circumcision on four girls. Practitioners use anything from broken glass to scissors

A Pokot woman performs a circumcision on a girl in a village

One mother said the pain would make her daughter strong.