Gambia - March 2024

The Gambian National Assembly voted on 19 March to reverse a ban on female genital mutilation that has been in force since 2015. The Women’s (Amendment) Bill has now passed its second reading and has been referred to a committee for three months of consultations. Opposition to the ban on FGM has grown in the last year since the first convictions and fines for practicing FGM were handed down by a court in the country. At present, almost three quarters of women in the Gambia have been subjected to the practice. If the reversal of the ban on FGM is eventually passed by the parliament, Gambia would become the first country in the world to reverse a ban on the practice.  

Update: On 15 July 2024, The Gambian National Assembly rejected the Women’s Amendment Bill. None of the bill’s clauses were passed and it did not proceed to a third reading.

Sources: The Point, The Guardian, Reuters, The Gambian National Assembly