{"id":44979,"date":"2023-10-15T15:07:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T15:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=44979"},"modified":"2023-10-15T14:49:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-15T14:49:20","slug":"ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw","title":{"rendered":"NGOs, CSOs Urge Government to Uphold\u00a0Anti-FGMLaw"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have united to urge the Gambia\u2019s Government to uphold the law, banning FGM.<\/b><\/p>\n

The Kaur\/Kuntaur Magistrates\u2019 Court sometime this year delivered a landmark judgment that marked the first conviction since the law, banning FGM was enacted eight years ago The Association of Non-Governmental Organisations in The Gambia (TANGO), the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP), and the Network Against Gender-Based Violence (NGBV) are joined by 180 civil society organizations from across Africa and around the world in co-signing an open letter, urging the Government of The Gambia to stand firm in itscommitment to protect women and girls by upholding the law, prohibiting FGM. This letter is in response to deeply-troubling comments recently by some religious and political leaders advocating for decriminalizing of FGM, including regressive statements in the national parliament calling for the law to be repealed.<\/p>\n

In 2015, The Gambia took a momentous step by amending the Women\u2019s Act 2010 to explicitly criminalize FGM under sections 32A and 32B respectively. The Women\u2019s (Amendment) Act of 2015 prohibits FGM, stating that, \u201ca person shall not engage in female circumcision… a person who engages in female circumcision commits an offense\u201d and is liable on conviction to \u201cimprisonment for a term of three years or a fine of fifty thousand dalasis or both; and where female circumcision causes death, to life imprisonment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Current attempts to remove legal protections were sparked by the convictions in August 2023 of three women for carrying out FGM on eight infant girls. Each offender was ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 dalasis(around $230 US) or serve a one-year prison sentence. The landmark judgment by the Kaur\/Kuntaur Magistrates\u2019 Court marks the first conviction since the law banning FGM was enacted eight years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustained efforts are required to accelerate FGM\u2019s eradication, and we hail the significance of these convictions and their role in addressing impunity. This case underscores the need to bolster enforcement mechanisms and awareness-raising throughout The Gambia, where UNICEF estimates that 73% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to this illegal practice,\u201d the NGOs and CSOs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we are concerned about the leniency of the sentences, as a fine of just D15,000 does not adequately reflect the crime\u2019s seriousness,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, some political and religious leaders have openly supported the convicted individuals. Concerningly, they are also publicly advocating for the law against FGM to be repealed, some influential figures have even recommended that FGM be continued. This is despite the promotion or incitement of FGM being criminalized, and such injurious comments being in direct contradiction to the principles of justice, protection, and welfare of women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have united to urge the Gambia\u2019s Government to uphold the law, banning FGM. The Kaur\/Kuntaur Magistrates\u2019 Court sometime this year delivered a landmark judgment that marked the first conviction since the law, banning FGM was enacted eight years ago The Association of Non-Governmental Organisations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":44977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,2366],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-44979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nNGOs, CSOs Urge Government to Uphold\u00a0Anti-FGMLaw - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have united to urge the Gambia\u2019s Governm ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NGOs, CSOs Urge Government to Uphold\u00a0Anti-FGMLaw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have united to urge the Gambia\u2019s Governm ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-15T15:07:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/10\/sm_1697368591.906561.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"NGOs, CSOs Urge Government to Uphold\u00a0Anti-FGMLaw\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-15T15:07:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw\"},\"wordCount\":464,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/10\/sm_1697368591.906561.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/ngos-csos-urge-government-to-uphold-anti-fgmlaw\",\"name\":\"NGOs, CSOs Urge Government to Uphold\u00a0Anti-FGMLaw - 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