Repeal of FGM Ban in Gambia

The West African nation of Gambia may be the first nation to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation or FGM in a vote taking place next Monday, March 25. The bill is reportedly backed by religious conservatives in the majority Muslim nation, stating that “it seeks to uphold religious purity and safeguard cultural norms and values.” Gambia’s top Islamic group has called the practice “one of the virtues of Islam.”

The procedure often occurs in honor-based cultures. The mutilation of a woman’s genitalia is intended to maintain family honor by preserving a woman’s virginity until marriage. The intended result is to reduce her sexual drive to ensure she will not engage in premarital or extramarital sexual behavior. It can, however, cause short-term problems, including shock, bleeding, infection, and injury to nearby tissue immediately following the procedure, and can also have long-term effects such as recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, infertility, and complications during intercourse and childbirth.

The United Nations estimates that more than half of women ages 15 to 49 in the Gambia have undergone the procedure, and even though the current law passed in 2015 banned the practice, only two cases have been prosecuted.