Edited by: Gianna Myrat
The Gambia will maintain its ban on female genital mutilation, following a historic decision by the National Assembly on Monday that marked a victory for women’s rights advocates in the West African nation.
After nearly a year of heated debate, a majority of Gambian lawmakers rejected every term of a controversial bill that would have lifted the ban on female genital cutting, also known as female genital mutilation. The speaker of the Gambia’s National Assembly said the rejection of a bill at this stage — ahead of a final vote, scheduled for July 24 — was unprecedented.
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Lawmakers’ rejection of the bill followed months of intense activism led by Gambian women, who faced threats and harassment as they led campaigns to explain the cut’s negative impact on their lives and families. In March, lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of the bill, sparking widespread fears that Gambia could be the first nation in the world to revoke such protection.
“I’m relieved but also sad that we had to go through this ordeal,” said Fatou Balde, a Gambian activist and survivor who has received international attention for her advocacy against the practice. “I am so proud of the women of The Gambia for not giving up. We refused to leave.”
Gambian women have faced FGM for generations.
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Outside parliament, where women hugged and danced to music blaring, 29-year-old Sire Saho said she was so excited she could barely process the news, which they had “fought so hard” for months. She and her older sister, Fatu Saho, are fighting for justice for their daughter Fatu, who was mutilated without her permission, and against the law.
“The only thing left is to enforce the law,” said Sire Shaho. “Unless the law is enforced, then it’s just black writing on white paper.”
In The Gambia, a nation of about 2.5 million, the United Nations estimates that about 75 percent of women aged 15 to 49 have undergone FGM, which can include removal of part of the clitoris and labia minora and, in the most extreme cases, sealing the vaginal opening. Globally, more than 200 million women and girls are estimated to have survived FGM, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Proponents of the practice have said it is linked to tradition and religion in this Muslim-majority nation, claiming it was taught by the prophet Muhammad. But other Muslim leaders say it is not required by Islam and is not practiced in most Muslim-majority countries.
Gambia’s law, which took effect in 2015, comes with a possible prison sentence of up to three years or a fine of about $740. But there have only been three convictions under the law – and it was the convictions that sparked the current debate, with Abdouli Fati, a prominent imam, paying the fines of those convicted and launching the campaign to overturn the ban.
Sitting in parliament on Monday with other religious leaders, Fati watched the proceedings without expression. He said they planned to target lawmakers who rejected the bill in the upcoming election, calling them “not real Muslims.” And he vowed that the mutilation – which he calls “female circumcision” – will continue.
“We are imams,” he said, noting that more than 95 percent of the people in The Gambia are Muslim. “They listen to us.”
Medical experts say the procedures, which have no medical benefits, can cause a range of short- and long-term harms, including infections, severe pain, scarring, infertility and loss of pleasure.
“We can breathe now,” said a Gambian activist whose little sister died as a result of a botched procedure and who discovered on her wedding night, aged 15, that she had been sealed as a baby. “We stood on the right side of history. And regardless of the threats we faced, we stood our ground.”
Lawmakers said the turning points included an announcement last month by President Adam Barrow supporting keeping the ban in place, and a trip by health committee members to Egypt, where they heard from lawmakers, members of civil society and religious scholars about why Egypt had criminalized the practice.
With information from the Washington Post
Source: www.zougla.gr
