Court sits on ban of genital mutilation

The Gambia’s Supreme Court began hearing a case this week brought by religious traditionalists who are hoping to topple the country’s poorly enforced ban on female genital mutilation (FMG).

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Gambia has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world, with 73% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 having undergone the procedure, according to 2024 figures from Unicef.

FGM was outlawed in 2015 in the small, west African nation by then dictator Yahya Jammeh, who branded it outdated and not a requirement of Islam.

The ban was subsequently upheld in July 2024, when lawmakers rejected a controversial Bill, introduced by independent MP Almameh Gibba, seeking to overturn the law.