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70 petitioners urge Assembly to reject pro-FGM bill

May 8, 2024, 2:03 PM

Seventy concerned Gambians have filed a petition to the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly expressing “deep concerns” about a bill tabled before the Gambia’s National Assembly designed to reverse a law banning FGM.

“On behalf of the Nyang-Sanneh Institute, it is with a sense of urgency that we, the undersigned, are writing to the Speaker and all his fellow Parliamentarians through you, to express our deep concerns about a bill tabled before the Gambia’s National Assembly to reverse a landmark law banning FGM, as we believe that repealing the ban on FGM would be detrimental to the rights of women and girls in the country,” Professor Abdoulaye Saine, Executive Director Nyang-Sanneh Institute, on behalf of petitioners wrote to the Speaker on April 29, 2024.

The petitioners include prominent Gambians such as former Minister of Information and Communication Infrastructure Demba A. Jawo among host of others.

“By signing this petition, we, the undersigned, writing as concerned Gambians and advocates for the ban on FGM to be maintained, are urging legislators in the country to reject the bill aimed at repealing the landmark law of 2015 banning FGM in the Gambia. Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to hearing from you soon,” he concluded.

The petition reads: “We, the undersigned, believe that safeguarding the rights and protecting the health and safety of women and girls is one of the most important functions of government.”

“We therefore support maintaining the Women’s Act of December 28, 2015, which makes provisions for banning Female Genital Mutilation.”

“We believe that repealing or amending such an Act will be a bad decision by the National Assembly, that will reverse the many years of social progress Gambian women and girls have enjoyed since the passing of the Act.”

“We believe that the religious arguments being made for repealing the Act are not supported by sound references to the Bible or the Quran or in sound Hadith. The respected late Grand Mufti of Al Azhar University (the highest seat of Islamic learning), Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, argued against FGM; so did a recent Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, and that it has no sound basis in the Quran and the Sunnah/Hadith. Both the Bible and Quran prescribe circumcision only for men but not for women. For those who make references to a weak Hadith, we argue that none of the Prophet Mohammad’s wives nor his daughters practiced FGM. If Muslim women are to look for an example consistent with their faith, then those are the best examples. We should also note that Islam operated in a pagan milieu and so archaic practices in those early days, such as FGM/C, had to be gradually abolished.”

“Therefore, recognizing that FGM: has no sound basis in the teachings of the major faiths existing in The Gambia; that it is harmful to women’s health and safety; (The practice has no health benefits for girls and women and causes severe bleeding and problems during urination, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. Also, the long-term consequences of FGM/C are the formation of abscesses and genital ulcers, chronic reproductive tract infections, chronic back, and pelvic pain, and urinary tract infections).”

“FGM/C/ is, overall, an archaic social practice;

we, the undersigned, petition our people’s representatives, the National Assembly, and President Barrow, to exercise one of their most sacred duties with responsibility and care to ensure that the FGM/C ban is maintained.”

List of Petition endorsers