As Gambia’s parliament voted to reject a bill overturning a 2015 law against female genital mutilation, a 96-year-old woman was convicted of violating the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) ban.[1] Her conviction is raising the concern that the 2015 legislation in Gambia is doing little to protect young girls.[2] The international community and countries have focused on the economics of FGM rather than the implementation of treaties and polices to work on shifting the cultural practice. This coupled with distrust of Western influence and money has made the policy ineffective at protecting women from FGM.
What is Female Genital Mutilation and Why is it Done
FGM is a cultural practice in Africa and elsewhere that involves the partial or total cutting of female genitals.[3] The World Health Organization (“WHO”) in 1995 and again in 2008 classified FGM into four broad categories.[4] Type I involves the “partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce”; Type II involves “partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora”; Type III involves “narrowing of the vaginal orifice by cutting and bringing together the labia minora and/or the labia majora to create a type of seal, with or without excision of the clitoris…”; Type IV encompasses “all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes including pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization.[5] In Gambia, the reason for FGM is based on cultural and religious belief that includes prevention of preventing promiscuity, promoting male sexual pleasure, and cleanliness.[6] The practice of FGM is frequently performed by traditional practitioners who learned how to perform FGM from family with no formal medical training.[7] There is a risk of “[i]mmediate complications including bleeding leading to shock, transmission of infection and injuries to adjacent organs like the urethra and the rectum.”[8]
International Polices Against Female Genital Mutilation
FGM has been condemned by a number of international treaties and conventions as well as by the legislations of many countries. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing.”[9] This statement can be interpreted as banning acts that violate the right to health and bodily integrity of practices like FGM.[10] FGM is considered an act of violence against women which allows the United Nations (“UN”) Convention of the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women to be invoked.[11] Article 5 specifically deals with modifying “the social and cultural pattern of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes.”[12] Because FGM is often done to promote male sexual pleasure and reduce female promiscuity it can be argued that this violates the goals of Article 5 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Article 5(b) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa states the “prohibition, through legislative measures backed by sanctions, of all forms of female genital mutilation, scarification, medicalisation, and para-medicalisation of female genital mutilation and all other practices in order to eradicate them[.]”[13] This protocol explicitly prohibits FGM in Africa.
These treaties and calls to action have had mixed results. Some countries such as Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso have made significant progress reducing FGM in their countries.[14] All of these countries have ratified the Convention of the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women.[15] However, not every country that has ratified the convention has been as successful. The United Nations Children’s Fund (“UNICEF”) global database reports that five counties have made no progress in the last thirty years of reducing the prevalence of FGM.[16] These countries are Somalia, Mali, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal.[17] All five of these countries also signed and ratified the Convention of the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women.[18] This raises the question of how effective these international conventions have really been in reducing FGM.
Case Study Gambia
A 2010 survey by the WHO found that the national presence of FGM in Gambian women aged 15-49 was 76.3%.[19] In 2015, Gambia passed the Women’s (Amendment) Act 2015, which criminalized FGM and provided a path to prosecute perpetrators of FGM known as cutters.[20]
In 2023, three women were convicted of violating the ban on FGM.[21] One of these women was 96-year-old Yassin Fatty a traditional practitioner of FGM.[22] While Ms. Fatty was aware of the ban as well as had received social help targeted to prevent the practice for income, she continued.[23] Ms. Fatty was part of an initiative from the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (“GAMCOTRAP:).[24] Momodou Keita is a member of the organization and would go to communities and identify cutters and sign them up for the program.[25] These women would agree to end their cutting practices in exchange for “money to start a business, as an alternative income source.”[26] Ms. Fatty used this money to start a bakery, however she continued to the practice of FGM in secret.[27] Ms. Fatty has cast Mr. Keita in a scathing light accusing him of not caring for the girls of Gambia but simply wanting to take money from the West.[28] GAMCOTRAP is funded by western organizations such as the European Union, UNICEF, and UN Women.[29] For Ms. Fatty this practice was not just about the money but about continuing the practice of her grandparents, and to her protecting the women of her community.[30] Ms. Fatty’s cousin Abdoulie Fatty is one of Gambia’s best-known imams.[31] He has helped lead the charge in trying to repeal the 2015 ban.[32] Imam Abdoulie covered the fines for all three women convicted of FGM.[33] When the ban was upheld, he spoke to the media saying that the lawmakers who voted to uphold the ban and those who voted for them “are going to hell.”[34] As the community celebrated the upholding on the ban Ms. Fatty has chosen her adopted daughter to succeed her in upholding her grandparent’s tradition of FGM in Gambia, promoting its continuation for the next generation of Gambian women and girls.[35]
Recommendation – Economic Policy Won’t Be Enough, There Needs to Be Rule Cultural Diplomacy
Gambia is an example of how economic policies may not be enough to stop FGM in the region. For many in Gambia the laws restricting FGM and economic policies are considered unwanted Western interference.[36] Instead of continuing this path of economic policy and holding their breath as these laws face referendums the international community should consider how to change the culture around the practice of FGM. One way to do this could be by integrating cultural diplomacy to build trust in these communities. UNESCO has published an article recommending the concept of cultural diplomacy.[37] This can address work to foster trust and enhance relations instead of allowing a country to feel as if they are being steamrolled by western influence.[38] Cultural diplomacy can be integrated through exchanges of art, language, and information between countries practicing FGM and countries advocating its abolition.[39] This practice of diplomacy could help Gambia and other countries facing issues with FGM feel more understood, while allowing the West to spread information about the dangers of FGM and promote a cultural shift.
Looking at other regions can be helpful in determining how to change the culture of FGM. FGM is often done as an “initiation” for girls to womanhood.[40] In Kenya’s Kajiado county Massai girls are being put through an Alternative Rite of Passage that focus on education and ending of practices such as FGM, and childhood marriage.[41] For many communities, FGM is part of the cultural community and therefore laws and monetary incentives have not lessened the risk for young girls. A combination of cultural diplomacy as well as working with cultural leaders in the region to promote new rituals to respect tradition while moving away from FGM could shift the tide in favor of ending FGM for all.
[1] The Gambia: UN Salutes ‘monumental achievement’ as lawmakers uphold FGM ban (Jul. 15, 2024), https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/07/1152126.
[2] Ruth Maclean and Matty Jobe, The 96-Year Old Who Defied a Ban on Female Genital Cutting, N.Y. Times (Sept. 6, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/world/africa/gambia-female-genital-cutting.html [hereinafter Defying the Ban on FGM].
[3] Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Legal Prohibitions Worldwide, Center for Reproductive Rights, (last visited Nov. 3, 2024), https://reproductiverights.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Fact-Sheet-FGM-02-2009.pdf.
[4] Female genital mutilation, FGM, UNICEF Data, (Mar. 2024) https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/female-genital-mutilation/ [hereinafter FGM].
[5] Id.
[6] Patrick Idoko ET AL., Obstetric outcome of female genital mutilation in the Gambia – an observational study, 22 African Health Science 386 (2022).
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Dec. 10, 1948).
[10] FGM, supra note 4.
[11] Id.
[12] G.A. Res. 34, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Dec. 18, 1979).
[13] Protocol to The African Charter On Human And Peoples’ Rights On The Rights of Women in Africa, art. 5b (African Union, 2003).
[14] FGM, supra note 4.
[15] Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Ratification Status, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en.
[16] FGM, supra note 4.
[17] Id.
[18] Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Ratification Status, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en.
[19] Patrick Idoko ET AL., Obstetric outcome of female genital mutilation in the Gambia – an observational study, 22 African Health Science, 387 (2022).
[20]What’s Happening with The FGM Law In The Gambia?, Equality Now (Jul. 8, 2024), https://equalitynow.org/news_and_insights/whats-happening-with-fgm-law-in-the-gambia/.
[21] Id.
[22] Defying the Ban on FGM, supra note 2.
[23] Id.
[24] Id.
[25] Id.
[26] Id.
[27] Id.
[28] Id.
[29] Our Donors and Partners, GAMCOTRAP, https://gamcotrap.org/organisational-profile/main-collaborating-agencies/ (last accessed Nov. 11, 2024).
[30] Id.
[31] Id.
[32] See Id.
[33] Id.
[34] All Things Considered: A victory for opponents of female genital mutilation in The Gambia (NPR radio broadcast Jul. 16, 2024).
[35] Defying the Ban on FGM, supra note 2.
[36] Defying the Ban on FGM, supra note 2.
[37] Cutting Edge From Standing Out to Reaching Out: Cultural Diplomacy For Sustainable Development, UNESCO, (Jan. 27, 2022), https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/cutting-edge-standing-out-reaching-out-cultural-diplomacy-sustainable-development.
[38] Id.; Defying the Ban on FGM, supra note 2.
[39] Id.
[40] Initiation without FGM for Massi girls (DW news broadcast July 6, 2022) https://www.dw.com/en/initiation-without-fgm-for-kenyas-maasai-girls/video-60986732.
[41] Id.
