Gambia could become the first country in the world to repeal a ban on FGM if a bill currently making its way through parliament becomes law. It is an issue that has sparked a fierce debate in the West African country of tradition, religion and women's rights. - REUTERS
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00:00For Mariama Janju, taking her daughters to be circumcised when they were four and five
00:06years old was an act of love.
00:10She believes it's an important ritual that gives her daughters status in their Gambian
00:15village and makes them eligible for marriage.
00:18And that's why Janju is strongly in favour of an attempt in Gambia's parliament to become
00:22the first country to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation.
00:28Yes, I want them to allow us to do it because they come here to advocate against it.
00:35But when I tried to speak up, they told us to stop.
00:40I told them that if we stop, the women will suffer because it is our culture and our children
00:45will not learn about our traditions.
00:51Across Gambia, from villages to mosques to the corridors of power, a debate is raging
00:57around FGM.
00:59The practice is banned in over 70 countries, but remains widespread in some African nations
01:04and diaspora communities.
01:07And it persists in Gambia, despite being outlawed by former dictator Yaya Jame in 2015.
01:14Anti-FGM campaigners say authorities do not seriously enforce the ban.
01:19The first FGM convictions only took place last year, eight years after it was outlawed
01:25when three women were found guilty of cutting eight infant girls.
01:32According to the World Health Organization, FGM, which usually involves the partial or
01:36total removal of the external genitalia, brings no health benefits, only harm.
01:43The consequences are lifelong and can include chronic pain, recurring infections, problems
01:49with urination, menstruation and childbirth, pain during sexual intercourse and trauma.
01:56The latest government data says almost three quarters of women aged 15 to 49 in Gambia
02:02have undergone the practice, 65% of them when they were younger than five.
02:09After a mango tree in the village of Sintet, anti-FGM activist Fatou Balde is mediating
02:15a discussion on the issue.
02:19She says FGM teaches girls that pain is okay, adding that they are told to keep quiet about
02:25their trauma, laying the foundations for a culture of silence.
02:29I don't know what they are going to do, but my problem is how do we make sure that whatever
02:36happens to the law, our communities are getting the right information.
02:42FGM supporters in Muslim-majority Gambia frame their campaign as a backlash against Western
02:47values imposed by international donors or former colonial powers.
02:53It's a theme that resonates with many Africans.
02:58They also argue that the practice is rooted in Islam, though many imams and Islamic scholars
03:04dispute this.
03:07The campaign to repeal the ban is being led by two powerful men.
03:12One is lawmaker Alma Mejiba, the other influential Muslim cleric Abdullahi Fati.
03:18He publicly defended the three women convicted of FGM last year and paid their fines.
03:25Make sure you jump a little bit from the culture.
03:33Don't go deep, okay?
03:38If you do as I tell you, that will be fine for both men and women.
03:48Isa Touba, a programme officer at civil society group Women in Liberation and Leadership,
03:53says Fati has no understanding of FGM.
03:57He is not a woman, he does not have a clitoris, he does not have a vagina, so he will not
04:02know how it feels.
04:04Muslim cleric Baba Lee also staunchly opposes Fati and FGM.
04:09Islam is not a torture, to torture people, especially young innocent girls, a newly born
04:14baby.
04:15What are you doing?
04:17Come on.
04:18Nevertheless, the bill to repeal the ban on FGM is making its way through parliament.
04:23In March, it passed its second reading with 47 out of 53 lawmakers voting in favour.
04:30Jibi Mbalo was one of the few who voted against.
04:33What is wrong shall never be right.
04:38This is wrong and I will start to say it's wrong.
04:42When it is taking me to lose this seat, I was ready to resign and said, look, I will
04:50not be a part of a legislative that will tend to return my country in those old age.
04:58Rights advocates fear the bill's potential to ignite a wider effort to dismantle protections
05:04for women and girls, such as around child marriage and gender-based violence.
05:09There are also concerns of a ripple effect into other African countries.
05:14A final vote is expected later this month.
05:19Gambia's information minister, Ismaila Sise, said the government did not support FGM, but
05:25that it would allow democracy to run its course.