Agnes Pareyio (born 24 June 1956) is a

Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...

Kenyan

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and founder and director of the Tasaru Ntomonok Rescue Center for Girls, an organization that campaigns against female genital cutting.

Biography

Pareyio was born in 1956, the daughter of the village chief. After she underwent female genital mutilation at 14, against her will, she vowed to prevent FGM from happening to other girls. Soon after her marriage at 18, Pareyio joined the Kenyan women's organization Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, where she became a leader. Her efforts eventually turned to fighting female genital mutilation. An opponent of FGM, Pareyio teaches girls about the procedure, using wooden models of the female reproductive tract to show different types of FGM. She challenges cultural practices and engaging with communities that propagate the procedure, suggesting and demonstrating alternative female rites of passage. Pareyio runs a safe house for young girls escaping from female genital mutilation. She works with each girl's family to help them understand the consequences of FGM and convince them to spare their daughter from the procedure. She also educates women who perform FGM about its harms. Pareyio was the first Maasai women to be elected Deputy Mayor of her locality. Pareyio has also analyzed the patriarchal social effects of FGM, including the ways that the procedure is used to take girls out of education and other means of economic and social independence. Pareyio was named

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in Kenya Person of the Year in 2005, for her work towards

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

and women's empowerment.

References

External links

Rising to End FGM - Agnes Pareyio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pareyio, Agnes 1956 births Living people Kenyan health activists Kenyan women's rights activists Maasai people Activists against female genital mutilation Violence against women in Kenya People from Narok County