Gambia MPs uphold ban on female genital mutilation

Gambian lawmakers uphold ban on female genital mutilation, rejecting bill to decriminalize the harmful practice.

Gambian lawmakers voted on July 15 to uphold a 2015 ban on female genital mutilation, rejecting a controversial bill seeking to overturn the law after months of heated debate and international pressure.

Legislators killed the bill by voting against all the proposed amendments to the 2015 text that would have decriminalised the practice.

Rights groups and the United Nations had urged MPs to reject the bill, saying it threatened years of progress and would have seen The Gambia become the first country to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM).

Table banging could be heard in the packed parliamentary chamber as MPs rejected each of the four clauses.

“The Women’s (Amendment) Bill 2024, having gone through the consideration stage with all the clauses voted down, is hereby deemed rejected,” said 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 had been making its way through parliament since March, deeply dividing public opinion in the Muslim-majority West African country.

The text, introduced by MP Almameh Gibba, says that “female circumcision” is a deep-rooted cultural and religious practice, but anti-FGM campaigners and international rights groups say it is a harmful violation against women and girls.