Gambia MPs uphold ban on female genital mutilation

Gambian lawmakers voted on Monday to maintain a 2015 ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), rejecting a controversial bill that sought to overturn the law following months of intense debate and international pressure.

Legislators voted against all proposed amendments to the 2015 law that would have decriminalized the practice, effectively killing the bill.

Rights groups and the United Nations had urged MPs to reject the bill, arguing that it would threaten years of progress and make The Gambia the first country to reverse a ban on FGM.

As MPs voted down each of the four clauses, the packed parliamentary chamber echoed with table banging.

“The Women’s (Amendment) Bill 2024, having gone through the consideration stage with all the clauses voted down, is hereby deemed rejected,” announced Fabakary Tombong Jatta, the speaker of the National Assembly. “I rule that the bill is rejected and the legislative process exhausted,” he added.

The bill, introduced by MP Almameh Gibba, had been moving through parliament since March, causing significant public division in the predominantly Muslim West African country. The text claimed “female circumcision” was a deep-rooted cultural and religious practice, but anti-FGM campaigners and international rights groups countered that it is a harmful violation against women and girls.

FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs, leading to serious health problems such as infections, bleeding, infertility, and complications in childbirth.

According to 2024 figures from UNICEF, The Gambia is among the ten countries with the highest rates of FGM, with 73% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 having undergone the procedure.

A UN report from March stated that over 230 million girls and women worldwide are survivors of the practice.

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