Political and religious leaders in The Gambia are actively campaigning to decriminalize female genital mutilation (FGM). Despite being banned in the West African country since 2015, this harmful practice continues to be practiced secretly. The recent arrest and imprisonment of three women for mutilating eight infants, the first conviction since the law took effect, has sparked a new initiative to repeal the law. Imam Abdoulie Fatty, a supporter of excision, and legislator Sulayman Saho, who has called for decriminalization in the country’s parliament, are the driving forces behind this controversial issue[…]
In late August, a judge in the Central River region convicted three women — one who performed the procedure and two mothers — for mutilating eight babies. The women faced a choice of paying a fine of 15,000 dalasis (about $243) or spending one year in prison. A few days later, Imam Abdoulie Fatty, the radical religious advisor to dictator Yahya Jammeh, known for his homophobia and defense of excision, paid the fine for the three women to secure their release from prison. He also encouraged Gambians to continue this practice. “If everyone agrees to do it openly, the government cannot imprison an entire town, let alone an entire country”[…]
These statements provoked a debate that quickly spilled onto the streets and even reached the nation’s parliament. In mid-September, Sulayman Saho, an opposition legislator from the Central Baddibu district, stood before the National Assembly and proposed repealing the law that prohibits FGM. Saho expressed concern about the arrests of “mothers and sisters,” and connected female genital mutilation to the right to preserve religious and traditional practices. “The ban infringes upon these rights and fosters violence in our country… We must get to work and review the law that criminalizes female circumcision”