By Khaleda Rahman for MailOnline. These pictures show frightened girls lined up before villagers in Kenya to be circumcised - even though the brutal practice is now illegal in the country. 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. Reuters photographer Siegfried Modola captured this ceremony in rural Kenya for four teenage girls of the Pokot tribe, in Baringo County. Draped in animal skin and covered in white paint, the girls squat over large stones in the remote village after being circumcised - a life-threatening custom banned in the country three years ago. Tearful: One of the young girls, covered in an animal skin, cries after being circumcised. The practice was outlawed three years ago. Frightened: Four young Pokot girls stand outside one of the girl's homes just before the beginning of their circumcision ceremony.
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Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Story highlights Author Naomi Wolf says recent controversies reveal biased views toward women's bodies The Pussy Riot trial and Arab Spring protests showed women stripped of autonomy Women's bodies are battlegrounds used to wage culture wars, Wolf says It's scandalous when women take ownership of their own bodies, Wolf contends. It seems as if we are in a time of unprecedented struggle over the meaning of women's bodies and sexuality. Controversy is swirling about an American University professor who breast-fed a baby in class ; topless photos of Kate Middleton have been released ; and a Time magazine cover showing a mother breast-feeding her toddler sparked even more tittering in May. It is not just the breast that is contested: Pussy Riot, the punk band, was sentenced to two years in a Russian prison after a staged performance in which they did high kicks that showed too much of their bodies.
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By Isabelle Loynes and Anna Hodgekiss. A teenager has spoken of her 'total shock' at being told at the age of 17 she had no vagina. Jacqui Beck, 19, has MRKH, an rare syndrome which affects the reproductive system - meaning she has no womb, cervix or vaginal opening. She was only diagnosed after she went to her GP about back pain - and mentioned in passing that she hadn't started her periods.
Please refresh the page and retry. She said: "Girls will sometimes come out with comments like, 'I just hate it, I just want it removed,' and for a girl to feel that way about any part of her body - especially a part that's intimate - is very upsetting. S he said she is yet to see a young girl who needs the operation. Paquita de Zulueta, a GP for more than 30 years, told the BBC that it is only in the past few years young women have been coming to her with concerns about the shape of their privates. She said: "I'm seeing young girls around 11, 12, 13 thinking there's something wrong with their vulva - that they're the wrong shape, the wrong size, and really expressing almost disgust. Unbelievable that any doctor would perform this surgery on a young girl! What a shame that young girls feel this way about their bodies. M s de Zulueta said it is the fault of pornography and social media. S he explained: "There isn't enough education and it should start really quite young, explaining that there is a range and that - just as we all look different in our faces - we all look different down there, and that's OK.
