Gambian mothers fear for their daughters as court weighs FGM ban

Wellingara, The Gambia – As The Gambia’s Supreme Court prepares to rule on the country’s ban on female genital mutilation on Wednesday, survivors say the decision could determine whether their daughters remain protected by law or face the same trauma they endured.

In Wellingara, girls run barefoot across a sandy compound, their laughter mingling with the afternoon call to prayer. They dart through the yard, full of energy and unaware that a legal battle unfolding in the country’s highest court could shape their future.

From beneath a mango tree, Mariama Jabbie watches them closely.

Her daughters are six and nine, the same age she was when women from her village took her away to be cut. She remembers little of that day, but nearly three decades later, the pain has never left her.

Now 28, Mariama said female genital mutilation (FGM) has shaped every stage of her life. The trauma extended far beyond the procedure itself, following her into adulthood, marriage and motherhood. Today, it has become a constant fear that her daughters could suffer the same fate.

That fear intensified late last year when a three-month-old baby died after what authorities said was a clandestine FGM procedure not far from her home in Wellingara, about 15km (9 miles) from the capital, Banjul.

“I am always on high alert,” she told Al Jazeera. “I worry that a relative could take my daughters without my knowledge. Over my dead body will any of my daughters go through what I went through.”

Living with scars

Mariama’s fears are echoed by other mothers who see the upcoming ruling as a test of whether the law can continue to protect girls.

Thirty-year-old Binta Jawo, who underwent FGM as a child, is raising a seven-year-old daughter she is determined to shield from the practice.

“It was very painful,” she recalls. “I cannot imagine allowing my daughter to go through something I know is harmful when I have the power to protect her.”

What worries her most is the possibility that the Supreme Court could weaken one of the few legal safeguards girls currently have.

“The ban has made a difference,” she said. “It has helped reduce the practice, even if it hasn’t stopped it completely.”

If the law is weakened, she fears families will once again come under greater pressure to subject girls to FGM.

For 37-year-old Sarjo Kambi, that fear became reality in 2023.

While she was away on a business trip, her daughter was taken by her paternal grandmother and subjected to FGM without her consent.

“It was the most painful day of my life,” she said, her voice breaking. “I still carry that pain every day.”

Sarjo said she was cut at the age of six, an experience that affected both her health and her marriage.

“I was almost sealed as a result of the cutting,” she said. “On our wedding night, my husband could not penetrate me. That is something I have lived with all my life.”

She said she and her husband had agreed that their daughter would never undergo the practice.

When she reported what had happened, she felt abandoned.

“I went to the police expecting protection,” she said. “But I was told it was a family matter.”

“That response devastated me. It still hurts today because it felt like my child did not matter.”

Now, as the Supreme Court prepares to rule, she worries that even the limited protection offered by the law could disappear.

“If girls are still being cut in secret despite the ban,” she said, “what will happen if that protection disappears altogether?”

A law on trial

The case before The Gambia’s Supreme Court has become one of the country’s most consequential constitutional challenges, reopening a debate over religion, culture and women’s rights.

It follows parliament’s rejection in 2024 of an attempt to repeal the 2015 law banning FGM.

The ban criminalised the practice, carrying penalties of up to three years in prison and life imprisonment where it results in death. But enforcement has remained limited, allowing the practice to continue largely in secret.

The first convictions under the law came only in 2023, when three women were found guilty of performing FGM on eight girls aged between eight and 10 in the Central River Region.

By 2024, only two cases had reached prosecution.

In May, the High Court acquitted three women charged in connection with the death of a three-month-old baby after ruling prosecutors had failed to prove their case.

Campaigners say the law has helped reduce FGM but has also driven it underground, with some families cutting girls at even younger ages to avoid detection.

The Gambia remains one of Africa’s countries with the highest prevalence of FGM. According to the 2019-2020 Demographic and Health Survey, 65 percent of girls undergo FGM before the age of five, while another 18 percent are cut between the ages of five and nine. UNICEF estimates that about three in four Gambian women have undergone FGM.

Pressure to repeal

Pressure to overturn the law has continued despite its limited enforcement.

Early in 2024, a lawmaker introduced a bill seeking to repeal the ban, prompting widespread protests from women’s rights organisations and activists who warned that years of progress could be reversed.

The Gambia’s Supreme Islamic Council backed the proposal, describing female genital cutting as “one of the virtues of Islam”.

Supporters of the constitutional challenge argue that the case is about religious freedom and cultural rights rather than the practice itself.

Human rights groups and medical organisations reject that argument, saying all forms of non-medical female genital cutting violate girls’ bodily autonomy and fundamental rights.

Support for the practice also remains strong among some Gambians.

Kawsu, a 48-year-old father of three sons, said that if he ever had a daughter, he would ensure she underwent FGM.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he tells Al Jazeera. “It is part of my culture and religion.”

He was among hundreds of demonstrators who gathered outside Parliament in 2024 to support repealing the ban, reflecting the depth of public support for reversing the law despite Parliament ultimately rejecting the proposal.

Beyond the verdict

For campaigners, the case is about far more than a single court judgment.

Fatou Baldeh, one of The Gambia’s leading anti-FGM campaigners and a survivor herself, says months of public debate have fuelled fear and misinformation while making it harder for women to speak openly.

Even after years of legal prohibition, she said, silence continues to protect the practice within many families and communities.

Member of parliament Abdoulie Ceesay, whose constituency was shaken by the death of the three-month-old baby, said the tragedy continues to haunt residents.

“We are still in shock over what happened,” he told Al Jazeera. “No community should have to endure such a loss.”

Calling FGM “a violation of human rights”, Ceesay said the country’s ban must remain to protect girls.

That view is shared by UNICEF.

Nafisa Binte Shafique, UNICEF’s representative in The Gambia, told Al Jazeera that FGM violates the rights of girls and women and causes immediate, irreversible and lifelong harm.

“While UNICEF respects traditions, cultures and religious beliefs, no custom or belief can justify practices that harm children,” she said.

Shafique said strong laws are essential but must be backed by effective enforcement, access to justice and support services for survivors. She adds that UNICEF will continue working with the government, civil society, community and religious leaders, young people and survivors to help end the practice.

Awaiting judgement

As the country waits for the Supreme Court’s decision, the outcome could shape not only the future of the law but also the lives of thousands of girls whose protection hangs in the balance.

Al Jazeera contacted The Gambia’s Ministry of Justice for comment on the government’s position ahead of the ruling but received no response.

For Mariama, the uncertainty remains deeply personal.

“I just want my daughters to grow up with the choices I never had,” she said. “I hope the court protects girls like them.”

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