Gambia may have upheld its ban on female cutting, but the fight goes on away from parliament
Gambia has been rocked in recent months by a heated debate on female genital cutting, a centuries-old practice rooted in concepts about sexual purity and control of women
SOMA, Gambia (AP) — When Metta, a mother of six from rural Gambia, heard that lawmakers were considering reversing the country's ban on female genital cutting, a centuries-old practice she underwent as a child and now fiercely opposes, she was determined that her voice be heard.
She packed her bag and boarded a bus to Gambia's capital, Banjul, to join scores of women protesting outside the parliament in the largely Muslim nation of less than 3 million people in West Africa.
“I was standing there with a banner,” she told The Associated Press. “Once we got the news that the ban was kept in place, we danced and cried.”
Gambia was for months rocked by a heated debate on female genital mutilation, or FGM, a cultural rite rooted in concepts about sexual purity and control of women. It was the first time the practice — also known as female circumcision and outlawed in many nations — was publicly discussed. Reversing it would have been a global first.
