The Gambia, a country in West Africa has taken initiatives to lift a ban on female circumcision or Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), reports said.
The Gambian parliament on Monday voted to lift a ban on female circumcision, Al Jazeera reported, adding that this move could make Gambia the first country in the world to reverse legal protections against the practice for millions of women and girls.
Politicians in the parliament of the West African country voted 42 to four in favor of a controversial bill. This bill aims to overturn a significant ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) that was implemented in 2015. The ban had made the practice of FGM punishable by a maximum prison sentence of three years.
Almameh Gibba, the legislator who introduced the bill, argued that the ban violated citizens' rights to "practice their culture and religion" in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.
However, activists and rights organizations argue that the suggested bill undoes the progress made over the years and poses a threat to the country's human rights reputation.
The debate over repealing the bill flared up in August, when three women were fined for carrying out FGM on eight infant girls, becoming the first people convicted under the law.
The bill is set to be forwarded to a parliamentary committee for additional examination before a final reading, which is estimated to take approximately three months. During this process, the committee has the authority to make changes to the proposed measure.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
According to a report by UNICEF in 2021, 76 percent of Gambian females aged between 15 to 49 have undergone FGM.
