Marion Scott Stevenson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 18 May 1871 |
| Died | 1930 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Education |
|
| Occupation | Missionary |
| Years active | 1907–1929 |
| Employer | Church of Scotland |
| Known for | Opposition to female genital mutilation |
| Parent(s) | Agnes Barron and Robert Stevenson |
| Relatives | William Barron Stevenson (brother) |
Marion Scott Stevenson (18 May 1871[1]–1930) was a Scottish missionary with the Church of Scotland Mission in British East Africa (Kenya) from 1907 until 1929.[2]
Stevenson worked at first for the church's Kikuyu mission at Thogoto, then from 1912 for its mission at Tumutumu in Karatina, set up by Rev. Henry Scott and Dr. John Arthur in 1908.[3][4] She established and ran a girls' school, which became Tumutumu Girls' High School, taught sewing, knitting and hygiene, worked in the hospital, trained teachers, and helped to translate the Bible.[5][6][7]
According to theologian James Karanja, citing a Church of Scotland memorandum, in 1929 Stevenson coined the term "sexual mutilation of women" to describe what was then known as female circumcision, a practice of great importance to the Kikuyu people, Kenya's largest tribe. The Kenya Missionary Council followed suit and began referring to it that year as sexual mutilation, rather than as circumcision or initiation. The practice is now widely known as female genital mutilation (FGM).[8][9]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
familysearchwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ McIntosh, Brian G. (June 1969). The Scottish Mission in Kenya, 1891–1923, University of Edinburgh, p. 208, n. 29.
- ^ For 1912, McIntosh 1969, p. 241, n. 120.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
USC2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Letter from Marion S Stevenson" Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, University of St Andrews archives.
- ^ Kinyua, Johnson Kiriaku (2010). The Agikuyu, the Bible and Colonial Constructs: Towards an Ordinary African Readers' Hermeneutics Archived 4 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine. University of Birmingham, p. 10.
- ^ Benedetto, Robert; McKim, Donald K. (2009). Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, p. 464.
- ^ Karanja, James (2009). The Missionary Movement in Colonial Kenya: The Foundation of Africa Inland Church, Göttingen: Cuvillier Verlag, 2009, p. 93, n. 631.
- ^ For background on the Scottish missionaries and FGM in Kenya, see Mufuka, Kenneth (2003). "Scottish Missionaries and the Circumcision Controversy in Kenya, 1900–1960", International Review of Scottish Studies, 28, p. 55.
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