FGM — Musings

Since August 2023, The Gambia has witnessed a growing movement organising for the repeal of the law prohibiting the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the country. Two weeks ago, a bill seeking this repeal was presented in parliament by Almameh Gibba, National Assembly Member for Foni Kansala.

Yesterday, the bill was brought forward for a second reading and following some debate, parliamentarians voted by majority to move the bill to the committee stage. It is expected that the relevant committees will consult various stakeholders and gather public opinion, after which they will produce a report with recommendations for the way forward. This development has its merits and disadvantages, the analysis of which I will leave to our legal experts.

As someone who has actively worked in #EndFGM advocacy for the past decade and more, I wish to explore the dynamics of what we are seeing unfold, especially looking at the social mobilisation and community engagement angles through a Gambian feminist lens.

In December 2015, the Gambian parliament passed the Women’s (Amendment) Act 2015, criminalising the practice of FGM in the country. The Act specifies definitions for ‘female circumcision’ to include the WHO classifications, as well as any form of ‘female genital mutilation or cutting’. The Act also provides clear punishments for persons who engage in FGM; persons who request, incite, or promote FGM; and persons who are aware of the planned or completed procedure without reporting it to the relevant authorities.

Earlier in August that year, the same parliament had rejected a proposal to ban the practice of FGM in The Gambia, presented in a communiqué from the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP). This was not the first time that the Gambian parliament had rejected proposals for legislation against the practice.

It was, therefore, encouraging when four months later, the parliament passed legislation prohibiting the practice. This came on the heels of a surprise announcement for an immediate ban of FGM in The Gambia by then President Yahya Jammeh. This announcement also came after decades of work by activists and women’s rights groups, often under intimidating and dangerous conditions, and mainly using community engagement and policy advocacy approaches.

Since the law was passed almost ten years ago, there has been ONE successful prosecution in a case where in August 2023, three women were found guilty of practising FGM on girls aged between 4 months and 1 year. Each woman was ordered to pay a fine of D15,000 or serve a year in prison. Despite the clear misalignment between the sentencing and the penalties stipulated by the law, the court’s decision was still hailed as a landmark legal precedence.

What should have been an opportunity to strengthen implementation of the law and ensure the protection of girls across the country became an avenue for bolder moves by some Muslim religious scholars to push for the repeal of the law. One of them, Abdoulie Fatty, mobilised resources to pay the fines for the three women. He went on to use this moment as an opportunity to attack activists, organizers and civil society groups working to end FGM. Fatty and co have continued to push a narrative that the FGM law is anti-Islamic, mobilising and fuelling their loyalists to support the repeal of the law and consider their actions as ‘jihad’ to defend Islam.

Unfortunately, the conversation has not just stopped at the individual opinion level. Fatty is one person, but his influence in a majority-Muslim population should not be underestimated. At the first reading of the bill, we saw strong mobilisation from him and his partners, bringing forth crowds of people, many of them women and children, chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and shouting about protecting and defending their religion. The Supreme Islamic Council has also been playing a key role in emboldening this pro-repeal movement, arming them with spontaneous fatwas that have done nothing but dismiss the experiences of victims and survivors, advocate for the continuation of the practice, and even proffer medicalisation of FGM as a solution. The framing of anti-FGM work and anti-FGM activists as anti-Islam is strategic for getting their followers incensed, and for building support in a country where people are taught to not question religious leaders.

Civil Society Organizations, women’s groups and individual feminist activists have been working to respond to this development, a continuation of the work done over the past decades to engage with communities and policymakers. There are real concerns on the lack of strong coordination mechanisms, especially when it comes to issues affecting women, girls, and other minority groups in the country, and this has been laid bare once again, in this moment. Now, more than ever, we are reminded of the need to invest in holistic movement-building strategies that will facilitate collective action, build solidarity, support effective documentation and learning, and solidify a united bloc driven by a common interest: protecting the rights of women, girls, and other vulnerable groups.

Despite this challenge, the Network Against Gender-Based Violence and its member organizations have taken important lead of the actions so far, and civil society must continue to streamline efforts through this umbrella body to ensure actions are coordinated, communication is harmonised, and that there is no room for co-opting of the movement, or for grey areas that could eventually lead to the loss of the law… and more.

The Gambian government has continued to be silent on the issue. This has been the case since Adama Barrow’s government came into power, leading to public rhetoric in some communities that the end FGM law was ousted along with Jammeh. Civil society groups have continuously called on the government to be proactive in communicating about the existence of the law and express the political will to ensure its effective implementation. Almost eight years later, we are still waiting. While there have been a few government voices, notably that of the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, there is so much more to be desired from a government that continues to push a rhetoric of care and respect for the rights of women and girls in the country. It is also alleged that the police are stalling or outright refusing to move forward with cases of FGM reported to them because they have received executive directives to that effect.

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare has been the biggest disappointment in the government apparatus, and signals the need for not just women’s leadership, but one that is grounded in radical feminist politics that will stand up against the patriarchal structure that is the State. Five years since the creation of the Ministry, I still struggle to understand what they are doing to uplift the condition of women and girls in The Gambia beyond the cyclical repetition of projects and activities that lead to no meaningful change. Amid this glaring crisis, they still saw it fit to celebrate International Women’s Day with a march, dressed in fancy matching clothes, and regurgitating speeches and statements that we have heard over and over. As I write this, they are currently at the UN Commission on the Status of Women and expressing messages of ‘being in spirit with’ the CSOs who have been leading the work and mobilisation to end FGM. Where is the leadership? When will the Ministry recognise and assume its responsibilities as a coordinating body and work closely with CSOs instead of seeing them as enemies, opposition or ‘classless’ noisemakers? Can Fatou Kinteh and her team stand up?

Gambian women are tired! The patriarchy continues to find new ways to break our spirits and kill us every new day, and there is only so much that people can handle. There is so much work happening to ensure we are safe, but as civil society, we must be intentional about dealing with these issues from a radical point and beyond the surface level reactions that we often lean to. We need to address FGM, child marriage and many of the issues we face from the perspective of them being forms of patriarchal violence, and then devising solutions to counter that. We must not be afraid to offend the patriarchy, because the patriarchy will not hesitate to kill us at the first chance.

As we figure out a way forward, we must also reject the increasingly louder calls for medicalisation or standardisation of the practice of FGM because we will be setting a terrible precedence. We must recognise that the practice is rooted in the desire to control our bodies and our sexuality, and any concessions we make today will be applied to other forms of violence we face, because the goalpost will always be shifted. We have already seen Abdoulie Fatty mention the law prohibiting child marriage, and just as we predicted, they will come for every legislation protecting women and girls. We must not bow to their wishes to control our bodies, or to use us as collateral in their political games.

My spirit is tired, and I have been fighting hard to not operate from a defeatist perspective. And so, I will hold on to hope. That the Gambian government will stand up and deliver on their responsibilities to their people first, instead of the theatrics to look good in the eyes of the international community. That everyone working to continue inflicting harm on women and girls will be held accountable. That everyone working to protect our rights and wellbeing will be victorious and that we will be given the protections we need in an environment that is clearly getting more dangerous for the activists who are vocal.

For the sake of the girls who are STILL at risk of FGM and who do not have the space to share their fears, I hope that The Gambia gets it right this time.

Musings

Repealing the #EndFGM Law Will Be a Betrayal of Women and Girls in The Gambia - Jama Jack

Eyala