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Jo Potocki helps pro choice movements.

Video is below this is a still show from the video. Just because something is a cultural tradition doesn't automatically make it a good idea.

kenyan rape beads video

Isiolo, Kenya -- "Josephine" is 12 years old and several months pregnant.

She's a member of the Samburu tribe, living in a small village in a remote part of Isiolo in Kenya's Eastern Province. The pre-teen, whose identity is being protected, claims she had sex with a relative -- a rape sanctioned by the Samburu, through a practice called "beading."

Intricate beaded necklaces are a symbol of the Kenyan nation. But to young Samburu girls, the necklaces are a symbol not of national pride, but something much darker, that can lead to rape, unwanted pregnancies -- and even the deaths of newborns, according to activist

11 Comments

http://www.care.org

24 months ago

Thanks Kristin! They do a lot of good work :)

19 months ago

this is a great article..i never haerd of this horrible practice before...this activity is practiced worldwide in some form or another..no wonder women develop fears and misgivings about men when things like this are going on

19 months ago

@Edna - I've been enamored with Africa for a long time and Kenya and Uganda in particular and I never heard of this practice.

19 months ago

nice post....

18 months ago

video doesn't work here , embedding disabled.

I find it one of the most horrified practices, ever. Just by reading, makes me so mad.

17 months ago

O,my God!Very Poor Girls!!Cruel,Love!!

17 months ago

what kind of world do we live in God have mercy on us all these girls need an advocate to put an end to this thank u for bringing it out for public awareness

9 months ago

This just didn't make any kind of sense at all whatsoever. They say the beads are supposed to stop the promiscuity of the girls, but it's a way to notify the men that it's okay to have relations with the girl? I just know I couldn't have heard that right?? I don't even want to get started on the total insanity of this cultural practice. Any old relative can just show up and slap some stuff on your kid and make them a valid target for pedophiles basically. I just can't wrap my mind around this kind of craziness in our world.

9 months ago

My brainmasher in that equation for me is how the girls "aren't allowed" to get pregnant and when they do, they are punished forever(as if rape wasn't horrific enough). People should have strong opinions on this and people should be horrified and most of all, they should KNOW and TELL others so the world knows and the horrible practice isn't kept private and in the dark.

9 months ago

I completely agree.

9 months ago