On Friday, 12th July 2024, two days before the Consideration of the Women’s (amendment) Bill 2024, which seeks to repeal the ban on FGM/C, WILL launched a report titled ‘Female Genital Mutilation and/or Cutting (FGM/C): Documenting morbidity and mortality through community reflections’. A policy brief derived from the report’s findings was shared with the event’s participants. The event also featured a display of body maps, a visual art technique that was used to depict the pain of FGM/C survivors, as well as recorded testimonies of FGM/C survivors.
The report documented narrated cases of Six (6) deaths of young girls and an infant; one (1) in NBR, one (1) in CRR, one (1) in LRR and three (3) in WCR. The deaths were reportedly caused by severe bleeding after the deceased were subjected to FGM/C. It also captured commonly reported cases of infants and young girls, who after going through FGM/C endured severe bleeding but were lucky to narrowly escape death thanks to live-saving interventions.
Evidence from WILL’s community engagements brought to light some of the social and behavioural norms driving the Practice of FGM/C, including religious and cultural perceptions, and fear of pregnancy outside of wedlock. Contrary to the commonly propagated view that women support FGM/C, the vast majority of women who took part in the community engagements do not want FGM/C to continue. This aligns with the 2019-2020 Gambia Demographic Health Survey, which found that women who believe FGM/C should continue decreased from 65% in 2013 to 46% in 2019-20, with more women who have undergone FGM/C, especially young women, supporting the eradication of FGM/C.
According to the findings of the report, awareness of the health risks associated with FGM/C is high among women but low among men, and misconceptions still exist. The strongest advocates for FGM/C are men. An encouraging finding of the report is a strong appetite for dialogue on FGM/C, even among young men.
To achieve Target 5.3 of UN SGD 5 (to eliminate all practices, such as child, early marriage, early and forced marriage and Female Genital Mutilation, by 2030), the report recommends that the Women's (Amendment) Act 2015 should be maintained and enforced. It further recommends that stakeholders, including The National Assembly, the judiciary, law enforcement, the press, CSOs, community organisations, international development partners, should all work together to develop a robust policy and legal framework and action plan to eradicate FGM in The Gambia, and in parallel conduct research and disseminate the knowledge therefrom, to support the campaign to end FGM/C by 2030.
