BANJUL, Gambia (AP) — Lawmakers in the West African nation of Gambia on Monday Female Genital MutilationThe attempt to become the first country in the world to repeal such a ban has also attracted attention from activists abroad.
The vote came after months of heated debate in the mostly Muslim country of fewer than three million people, after lawmakers rejected entire clauses of the bill, effectively killing it by blocking a final vote.
Also known as female genital mutilation, the procedure involves the partial or complete removal of a girl’s external genitalia, often performed by traditional community practitioners using razors or other tools, but sometimes by health care workers. The procedure can cause severe bleeding and death It is widely practiced to reduce the risk of complications during childbirth. Parts of Africa.
Activists and rights groups had feared that lifting the ban in Gambia would reverse longstanding efforts against a centuries-old practice that is often carried out on girls under the age of five and is rooted in notions of sexual purity and restraint.
Religious conservatives who led the campaign to repeal the ban argued that the practice was “one of the virtues of Islam.”
In March, a majority of lawmakers voted in favor of passing the bill, raising fears the ban would be overturned, but attitudes have changed as human rights activists mounted a campaign and doctors and religious leaders testified before health committees about the impact of the practice.
“It’s a huge sense of relief,” activist and victim Abusa Samba said, speaking with others outside parliament after the vote. “But I think this is just the beginning.”
Fatou Baldeh, another activist and survivor, said she woke up crying that morning.
“Why did we have to go through this for 11 months?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Why did we have to re-traumatize ourselves just because men didn’t believe that female genital mutilation would harm us?”
She added: “And today, girls are still being circumcised. Hopefully this time it’s not just a cosmetic law.”
The United Nations estimates that more than half of Gambian women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 are sterilized. Yahya Jammeh The government abruptly banned the practice without further explanation in 2015, but activists say enforcement has been weak and women continue to be dissected.
The first prosecutions were brought last year, when three women were found guilty of taking their daughters to be circumcised and carrying out the act. The case sparked public debate, with some saying the prosecutions have sparked attempts to overturn the ban.
Gambian Islamic groups have recommended issuing a fatwa in 2023 to lift the ban on what is defined as “female genital cutting,” rather than female genital mutilation or circumcision. A top official from the Gambia Supreme Islamic Council (GSIC) declined to comment after Monday’s vote.
Imam Abdullahi Fatty, an outspoken activist who spearheaded the campaign to repeal the ban, criticised lawmakers and activists who oppose the bill.
“There are 35 MPs who have blocked efforts to lift the ban on FGM,” Fatty said. “Their actions are against the interest of the Gambian people. We are our votes. Let’s wait for the elections so that our voices can be heard.”
Earlier this year, UNICEF Approximately 30 million women worldwide Most of the people who underwent female genital mutilation in the past eight years have been in Africa, but it also takes place in Asia and the Middle East.
More than 80 countries have laws that either ban the practice or allow for its prosecution, including South Africa, Iran, India and Ethiopia, according to a World Bank study cited by the United Nations Population Fund earlier this year.
“No religious text encourages or condones female genital mutilation,” the UNFPA report said, adding that there is no benefit to it.
In the long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual disorders, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction, birth complications, and even depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.
UNICEF and WHO issued a joint statement on Monday night, praising Gambia for a vote that reaffirmed its “commitment to human rights, gender equality and the protection of the health and well-being of girls and women.”
But the report added that legislative bans alone are not enough to stop female genital mutilation, which “can cause severe immediate and long-term physical and psychological damage, including infections, subsequent obstetric complications and post-traumatic stress disorder.”
The organizations stressed the need for continued advocacy, working with communities and local leaders and training health workers to “secure gains made to advance gender equality, end violence against girls and women, and accelerate progress towards eliminating FGM.”
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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Abdoulie John reported from Banjul, Gambia.
