BANJUL, Gambia — Gambia will maintain its ban on female genital cutting following a historic decision by the National Assembly on Monday that marked a victory for women’s rights advocates in this West African nation.
Following nearly a year of heated debate, the majority of Gambia’s lawmakers rejected every clause of a controversial bill that would have repealed the ban on female genital cutting, which is also known as female genital mutilation (FGM). The speaker of Gambia’s National Assembly said the rejection of a bill at this stage — ahead of the final vote, which had been scheduled for July 24 — was unprecedented.
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 negative effects of cutting on their lives and that of their families. In March, the vast majority of lawmakers had voted to advance the bill, sparking widespread fear that Gambia could be the first nation in the world to roll back such a protection.
“I am relieved but sad that we had to be taken through this torment,” said Fatou Baldeh, a Gambian activist and survivor who has received international attention for her advocacy against the practice. “I am so proud of Gambian women for not giving up. We refused to let go.”
Standing outside parliament as women hugged and danced as music blasted, Sirreh Saho, 29, said she was so excited she could barely process the news, which they had “fought so much for” over the course of months. She and her older sister, Fatou Saho, have been fighting for justice for Fatou’s daughter, who was cut without her permission — and against the law.
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“The only thing that is left is to enforce the law,” Sirreh Saho said. “As long as the law is not enforced, then it’s just black writing on a white paper.”
In Gambia, a nation of about 2.5 million, the United Nations estimates that about 75 percent of women ages 15 to 49 have been subject to cutting, which can involve removing part of the clitoris and labia minora and, in the most extreme cases, a sealing of the vaginal opening. Globally, more than 200 million women and girls are estimated to be survivors of female genital cutting, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Proponents of the practice said it is linked to tradition and religion in this majority-Muslim nation, claiming it was taught by the prophet Muhammad. (Other Muslim leaders have said it is not required by Islam, and it is not practiced in many Muslim-majority countries).
Gambia’s law, which was put in place in 2015, comes with a potential 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 those convictions that sparked the current debate,