MGF

  • FGM in The Gambia: Lawmaker tables bill in parliament to lift ban

    A bill aimed at lifting the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) has been tabled in The Gambia’s parliament by an independent lawmaker.

    It was outlawed in the mainly Muslim nation in 2015 when Yahya Jammeh was president.

    He said it was not required in Islam.

    But influential Muslim clerics have been pushing for the ban to be repealed, while women’s rights activists have vowed to campaign for it to remain in place.

    Mr Jammeh’s 22-year authoritarian rule came to an end in 2016.

    More than three-quarters of Gambian females aged between 15 and 49 have undergone FGM, according to the UN.

    In the procedure’s most severe form, after removing the sensitive clitoris, the genitals are cut and stitched closed so that the woman cannot have or enjoy sex.

    Followers of an outspoken Muslim cleric, Abdoulie Fatty, rallied in support of the bill shortly before it was introduced in parliament on Monday.

    They chanted: “Female circumcision is my religious belief, Gambia is not for sale.”

    Last year, the cleric helped pay the fines of three women who were convicted of carrying out FGM on young girls.

    At the time, The Gambia Supreme Islamic Council, the main body of Muslim clerics in the country, called for the ban to be scrapped.

    There are different views in Islam over the practice, with some leading scholars, like those in Egypt, opposing it.

    The Gambian lawmaker who is championing the bill, Almammeh Gibba, said it sought to “uphold religious purity and safeguard cultural norms and values”, the privately owned Point newspaper reported.

    He said the practice could not be described as mutilation if done properly.

    The head of The Gambia’s Female Lawyers Association, Anna Njie, said that repealing the ban would be a backward step.

    “We have no authority to tell the National Assembly what to do, but we have rights reserved in the constitution to take legal action when certain fundamental rights are violated,” she was quoted by the local Standard newspaper as saying.

    The leader of the majority party in parliament, Billay Tunkara, said it had not yet taken a decision on whether to support the bill.

    “We are taking our time because it is a very sensitive area that doesn’t only have to do with religion or cultural aspect but also human rights and health issues,” he said.

  • Duecento milioni di donne a rischio di mutilazione genitale entro il 2030

    Il 6 febbraio, nella Giornata internazionale della tolleranza zero rispetto alle mutilazioni genitali femminili, è stato purtroppo nuovamente registrato che vi sono ancora 200 milioni di ragazze vittime di questa grave menomazione fisica e della conseguente violazione psicologica. Secondo i dati forniti dalla Ue, da qui al 2030 altri 200 milioni di ragazze sono a rischio. Diverse giovani subiscono questa pratica illegale anche in Europa, nonostante i controlli posti in essere da tempo e nonostante la mutilazione genitale femminile sia un reato in tutti i Paesi della Ue, che puniscono anche coloro che portano le ragazze a subire la mutilazione fuori dall’Europa. I controlli non sono ancora sufficienti e sono sopratutto il personale insegnante e quello sanitario che devono essere attenti a identificare bambine e ragazze a rischio e a denunciare anche preventivamente la possibilità che si stia per commettere il reato. Per quanto sia forte la cooperazione a livello internazionale per sorvegliare e debellare questa pratica criminale che segna per sempre fisico e mente di chi la subisce, non si è di fatto ancora ottenuta una collaborazione sufficiente nelle aree più svantaggiate dei Paesi nei quali quest’usanza tribale è diffusa.

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