The
Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP) on 13 January 2014
sensitised religious scholars on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) at a daylong
workshop held at its head office in Kanifing.
The
sensitization, a project on “creating awareness and documenting issues on the
life stories of women on qiwamah and wilayah in The Gambia” implemented in
collaboration with the New Field Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, dilated
on various issues which included gender and knowledge seeking, consent to
marriage and right to divorce, marriage by consent and inheritance, polygamy
and maintenance, female leadership, polygamy and abuse, inheritance, gender and
leadership, women and politics, child maintenance, inter-religious marriage,
gender and political leadership, gender and mobility, FGM and religion, wife
beating, female contribution to household, discrimination in marriage, gifts
before death, no limitation to female education, women empowerment, sexual
violence in marriage, household responsibilities, neglecting marital
responsibilities, right to property in marriage, and family maintenance.
Gamcotrap
executive director Isatou Touray, in her remarks on the occasion, began by
welcoming the participants on the day which coincided with the birthday of the
Prophet (SAW), saying in every forum they invite different people to spread the
information “because if you are working on something and want to make changes
and get positive results you have to share it with different people”.
She
described their campaign as doing the work of Allah, adding: “We should work to
make Islam alive for our benefit and the children.”
The
campaign is not at all to negate Islam or discard the Gambian culture but to do
the right thing, Dr Touray said, adding that none of the Prophet’s daughters
was circumcised.
FGM
has been in existence well before Islam but research has shown that it is
affecting the lives of women, which they want to protect, she noted.
FGM
has caused the end of some marriages, because some women would be given to
their husbands and for a week or so the man would not be able to penetrate her
not because he is not man enough but because of the negative effects FGM has on
the woman, Dr Touray observed.
They
have gone round the country discussing with women most of whom confessed the
negative effects of the harmful practices meted out to them but feel shy to
come out publicly to declare it, she stated.
For
changes to take place people need to sit down and discuss, she said, adding
that lack of knowledge on something can mislead people, describing knowledge as
very important.
“Some
things are caused by Allah but there are things caused by us human beings,” she
says, adding that research has shown that some women die during child birth due
to FGM.
“Knowledge
is one but sometimes we fool ourselves,” Dr Touray highlighted further, saying
the present generation is changing and people need to open their eyes “because
if you are not in reality, you will end up regretting”.
The
campaign is not a fight between men and women or ethnic groups but to figure
out a better way of living for all, she remarked, while calling on people to
organise themselves and educate their children since knowledge and education is
redemptive.
Dr
Touray also spoke about discipline, calling on Gambians to make correct and
effectual changes.
Marriage
is a sacrifice, she notes, urging the people to seek knowledge and spread it in
the right way.
In
her remarks, Madam Mary Small spoke on the effect of FGM, saying it can cause
pain, severe bleeding, shock, urinary retention or infection to women during or
after the practice.
