Gambian activists and human rights experts are warning that international pressure must be kept up on the president, Yahya Jammeh, until his announcement of a ban on female genital mutilation is turned into legislation.
“It is good news, it’s welcome news, but there’s nothing concrete until it’s signed into law,” said Felicity Thompson, author of the State of Fear report about conditions in the Gambia for Human Rights Watch.
Jammeh announced on 23 November that the controversial surgical procedure, which involves removing the labia and clitoris, would be outlawed in his country. FGM is widespread in the Gambia, where 76% of women and girls have been subjected to it, including 56% under the age of 14.
Jaha Dukureh, an anti-FGM activist whose campaign to end the practice in the country has been supported by the Guardian, was contacted by the president’s office shortly before the surprise announcement. She said she was amazed at the president’s decision and said it showed he “cares more about women than losing people’s votes”.
However, some human rights experts have warned that celebrations about the end of FGM in the country are premature.
“We do welcome the announcement, but you can’t stop FGM by just making a mere announcement. Legislation is what puts it to bed, is what ends it, we hope. But legislation must follow sensitisation – working with the schools, working with the imams, because there is a lot of cultural context and religious context included in FGM, that’s a difficult barrier to break through,” said Yusef Taylor, secretary general of Gambian Youth for Unity.
He added that activists in the Gambian diaspora had become “all too accustomed” to Jammeh’s diversionary tactics. “The first thing we thought was this is a distraction tactic.”
Taylor and other campaigners pointed to recent arrests of more than 30 young protesters near Kartong as evidence that even if the FGM ban gets enshrined in law, the Gambian government does not always honour its legal commitments.
“The arrests should serve as a warning to those celebrating the so-called ban on FGM,” said Jeffrey Smith, Africa specialist at the Robert F Kennedy human rights centre. “Freedom of assembly is guaranteed in the Gambia’s constitution and ostensibly protected by laws. This has not in any way, however, guaranteed those rights. As this latest incident demonstrates, Gambian authorities frequently violate the law. Gambia is not a nation of laws, but rather a nation subject to one man’s whims and impulses.”
However Dukureh, whose organisation has been invited to join the steering committee that will draft the legislation to ban FGM, decried those people who “sit on the sidelines and bash anything good that happens to the Gambia”.
She added: “This is good for the Gambia. It doesn’t matter what we think of the president, it’s about the daughters of the Gambia and what’s good for girls. It’s about coming together as a country to make sure this is not just words, but it’s turned into actions. It’s not up to him to end FGM in the Gambia, it’s up to us.”
