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| Version 17 | Version 18 |
|---|---|
| Africa Live: Bill to reverse Gambia FGM ban reaches next stage - BBC News | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Esther Ogola | |
| BBC News | |
| A bill seeking to decriminalise | |
| Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia has passed its latest parliamentary stage, known as the second reading. | |
| Though FGM was criminalised in The Gambia in 2015, some seeking to overturn the ban argue that it violates religious freedom and is against the country's cultural practices. | |
| The bill will now go to a committee of MPs for further consideration. | |
| Survivors of FGM and activists | |
| had hoped it would be thrown out. They said that not only did the practice cause lifelong damage but it was also against a woman's right to bodily autonomy. | |
| They have also argued that removing the ban on FGM would tarnish The Gambia’s human rights record. | |
| There was a heated debate in parliament but in the end 42 members voted for the bill, four voted against, while one abstained. | |
| Despite the ban being in place since 2015 it was not until convictions in 2023, when several women were jailed | |
| for performing FGM, did calls to reverse the ban gain momentum. | |
| According to a recent survey, 73% of women in The Gambia have undergone FGM | |
| with 65% of those cut being under the age of five. | |
| If the bill is passed, The Gambia | |
| would be the first country to have reversed a ban on FGM. | |
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