The brit milah or bris is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the prepuce is surgically removed. According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the biblical patriarch Abraham to be circumcised, an act to be followed by his male descendants on the eighth day of life, symbolizing the covenant between God and the Jewish people. Today, it is generally performed by a mohel on the eighth day after the infant's birth and is followed by a celebratory meal known as seudat mitzvah.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva. The prevalence of FGM varies worldwide, but is majorly present in some countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and within their diasporas. As of 2024, UNICEF estimates that Worldwide 230 million girls and women had been subjected to one or more types of FGM.
A mohel is a Jewish man trained in the practice of brit milah, the "covenant of male circumcision". The equivalent for a woman circumciser is mohelet.
The Bukusu people are one of the 17 Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa residing mainly in the counties of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. They are the largest tribe of the Luhya nation, with 1,188,963 identifying as Bukusu in the 2019 Kenyan census. They speak the Bukusu dialect.
Male circumcision reduces the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission from HIV positive women to men in high risk populations.
The University of Nairobi is a collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dates back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970. During that year, the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: the Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Topical or locally injected anesthesia is generally used to reduce pain and physiologic stress. Circumcision is generally electively performed, most commonly done as a form of preventive healthcare, as a religious obligation, or as a cultural practice. It is also an option for cases of phimosis, other pathologies that do not resolve with other treatments, and chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs). The procedure is contraindicated in cases of certain genital structure abnormalities or poor general health.
The prevalence of circumcision is the percentage of males in a given population who have been circumcised, with the procedure most commonly being performed as a part of preventive healthcare, a religious obligation, or cultural practice.
The controversy on religious male circumcision in early Christianity has played an important role in the history of Christianity and Christian theology.
Prostitution in Kenya is widespread. The legal situation is complex. Although prostitution is not criminalised by National law, municipal by-laws may prohibit it.. It is illegal to profit from the prostitution of others, and to aid, abet, compel or incite prostitution.. UNAIDS estimate there to be 133,675 prostitutes in the country.
Khitan or Khatna is the Arabic term for circumcision, and the Islamic term for the practice of religious male circumcision in Islamic culture. Male circumcision is widespread in the Muslim world, and accepted as an established practice by all Islamic schools of jurisprudence. It is considered a sign of belonging to the wider Muslim community (Ummah).
There is a widespread view among practitioners of female genital mutilation (FGM) that it is a religious requirement, although prevalence rates often vary according to geography and ethnic group. There is an ongoing debate about the extent to which the practice's continuation is influenced by custom, social pressure, lack of health-care information, and the position of women in society. The procedures confer no health benefits and can lead to serious health problems.
Forced circumcision is the circumcision of men and boys against their will. In a biblical context, the term is used especially in relation to Paul the Apostle and his polemics against the circumcision controversy in early Christianity. Forced circumcisions have occurred in a wide range of situations, most notably in the compulsory conversion of non-Muslims to Islam and the forced circumcision of Teso, Turkana and Luo men in Kenya, as well as the abduction of South African teenage boys to so-called circumcision schools. In South Africa, custom allows uncircumcised Xhosa-speaking men past the age of circumcision to be overpowered by other men and forcibly circumcised.
The history of the evolution of the traits of women in Kenya can be divided into Women within Swahili culture, Women in British Kenya, and Kenyan Women post-Independence. The condition and status of the female population in Kenya has faced many changes over the past century.
The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), established within Makerere University, is a Ugandan not-for-profit organization which aims to strengthen health systems in Africa, with a strong emphasis on infectious diseases; through research and capacity development. In pursuit of its mission both in Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa, IDI provides care to People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and other infectious diseases, builds capacity among healthcare workers through training and ongoing support, maintains a focus on prevention, and carries out relevant research.
Circumcision in Africa, and the rites of initiation in Africa, as well as "the frequent resemblance between details of ceremonial procedure in areas thousands of kilometres apart, indicate that the circumcision ritual has an old tradition behind it and in its present form is the result of a long process of development."
Robert C. Bailey is an American epidemiologist and professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health. He is also an adjunct professor in UIC's Department of Anthropology, a research associate at Chicago's Field Museum, and a visiting lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
Ann Elizabeth Kurth, PhD, CNM, MPH, FAAN, FACNM is President of The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), a leading nonprofit organization focused on health equity; she is the first epidemiologist to lead NYAM in its 176-year history. Previously she was the dean and Linda Koch Lorimer Professor at Yale School of Nursing (YSN). She is a fellow of the National Academy of Medicine and was a member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force. She is an expert in global health and HIV with work funded by the National Institutes of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CDC, and others, for studies in the US and internationally. Dr. Kurth has published ~250 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and monographs. She currently co-chairs the National Academy of Medicine Board on Global Health, which includes a focus on health issues of national and global import.
Elizabeth Ngugi was a Kenyan Professor of Community Health at the University of Nairobi, and a nurse by trade. Her major contributions to her university's program was her research and work with local prostitutes to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission. Ngugi is described as the first Kenyan nurse to become a professor.
Helen Anne Weiss is a British epidemiologist who specialises in HIV research, low-income health, and mental health. After getting her PhD at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in 1994, she started working at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she became Professor of Epidemiology. She was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020.
