Gambia lawmakers reject bill to reverse ban on female genital cutting - VOA

Gambia's parliament rejected a bill Monday that sought to reverse the country’s ban on female genital cutting.

The bill’s rejection comes after a second reading of the bill was passed in March with five out of 53 lawmakers voting against the bill at the time. Monday’s rejection of the bill came during its third reading, making the bill ineligible for a final vote.

If the bill had passed, Gambia would have become the first country in the world to reverse a genital mutilation ban.

Female genital cutting has been banned in Gambia since 2015, with activists claiming that enforcement of the ban hasn’t been effective. Only two cases have ever been prosecuted.

More than half of the women between 15 and 49 years old in Gambia have endured genital mutilation, as estimated by the United Nations.

Female genital cutting is a procedure that is a widespread practice in certain areas of Africa. It involves partial or full removal of a girl's genitals, typically performed on girls under five years old. The procedure is often performed by community practitioners using tools like razor blades.

The reasoning for female genital cutting is often rooted in ideas of purity and control, with religious conservatives calling for the ban to be overturned, referring to the cutting procedure as “one of the virtues of Islam.”

According to the United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA, there are no religious texts that promote female genital cutting.

The bill was first introduced by National Assembly Member Almameh Gibba, proposing that female genital cutting is an ingrained religious and cultural practice in Gambia. Many activists expressed concern regarding the bill’s text, however, saying that genital mutilation is a violation of women’s rights.

In a 2024 report, UNICEF said that approximately 30 million women have undergone the operation worldwide.

Female genital mutilation can result in serious health complications, such as excessive bleeding, menstrual problems, childbirth complications, death and more.

Some information for this story was provided by the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.