Category World News

A newborn girl with severe vaginal wounds was taken to Banjul’s Bundung Maternal and Child Health Hospital on a rainy morning in the early summer of this year. By the time she was attended to, the doctors could do nothing – the baby had bled to death.

The small, west African nation’s small, has since confirmed that the one-month-old died from injuries caused by female genital mutilation (FGM), a prohibited practice in the country.

The baby’s family is from Banjul, but the small town of Wellingara, which is located about 17 kilometers (10 miles) from the capital, is shocked by the case. At least three women from the area were arrested over the death, including the person who cut the child, as well as the baby’s mother.

A neighbor referred to the infant as “the unlucky one,” and her voice was sobbing. The neighbor was present at the baby’s naming ceremony, which is customarily held a week after birth, and she and the victim’s mother share the same traditional savings account called osusu. It was the last time she saw the infant, she said.

The neighbor, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, continued, “This is not the first time.” “Babies are cut in secret around here, some only a few days old.” It is heartbreaking, but it keeps happening because no one speaks out”.

FGM, which involves completely or partially cutting a woman’s labia and clitoris, frequently for non-medical reasons and at a young age, has been legal in the country for ten years, but it still remains a practice practice today. FGM is linked to complications like bleeding, infections, vaginal pain, infertility, and post-traumatic stress disorder in addition to the death risk. More than 144 million women are subjected to FGM across Africa, according to the United Nations agency for children, UNICEF.

The recent case makes clear the risks associated with the ritual and the difficulties that authorities face in repressing the practice.

The child’s death is being investigated by police. Although the baby’s mother has been released on bail, she could face a fine as a suspected accomplice under The Gambia’s 2015 anti-FGM law, while the woman who cut the newborn could face life imprisonment.

FGM is a secret weapon.

FGM is prevalent throughout much of Africa, but The Gambia is one of the most affected countries. According to UNICEF, at least three out of every four Gambian women have undergone ritual cutting.

Many mistakenly believe that this practice encourages girls’ sexual desire and maintains their virginity until marriage. Some misconceptions also include that cutting heightens male sexual pleasure and that it is a religious rite.

Years after activists began putting pressure on Banjul, The Gambia banned the contentious activity in 2015. The law allows those who are found guilty of cutting to receive a three-year sentence, as well as a life sentence, in the event of death. However, many have opposed the law, including some lawmakers and religious leaders in the Muslim majority nation, who call it an affront to cultural and religious rights.

A lawmaker introduced a bill to replace the anti-FGM law in the spring of 2024. Activists and human rights organizations, who claimed years of advocacy work would be a waste, were outraged by his calls. The Gambia’s top religious body backed the repeal, though, and called FGM “one of the virtues of Islam”.

In the end, the Supreme Court upheld the bill, but pro-FGM advocates have since filed a counterclaim against the Supreme Court. The decision is pending with the top court.

Most girls are subjected to cutting between infancy and adolescence. However, according to experts, the ban from 2015 seems to have gotten those who want to continue the practice to concentrate on cutting babies as one-month-olds do.

One of The Gambia’s leading opponents of FGM, Fatou Baldeh, revealed to Al Jazeera that her nonprofit, Women in Liberation and Leadership (WILL), began hearing more reports about families abusing children as young as one week old.

“They believe younger infants heal more quickly”, Baldeh said. Many people view this as a way to conceal the practice and avoid being caught, she continued, adding that healed cuts may be easier to conceal because of the law’s effect and fear of prosecution.

One of the many Gambian women who have survived FGM is Baldeh herself. The advocate said she continues to live with its emotional scars. Through community education and by contacting authorities, her organization, WILL, aims to end harmful traditional practices like FGM. Because the practice is frequently conducted in secret and is rarely cited as a crime since the law was passed, accurate statistics on FGM are challenging to obtain, she said, especially for infants.

“This is exactly why we continue to remind communities that FGM is never safe, no matter the age or the setting”, Baldeh added, referring to the recent death of the baby. Before she even had a chance to live, this baby girl was taken from her life. Her passing is a reflection of a society that continues to tolerate, justify, or remain silent about FGM, she said.

Mothers should be on the lookout for them

People who have endured FGM claim that its effects are lifelong and are difficult to forget.

Naffie, a mother of three, told Al Jazeera that all her childbirths were traumatic and agonising, and that she often endures intense vaginal pain as a result of the FGM she was subjected to as a four-year-old. The 35-year-old said, “I have to live with these scars and this pain for the rest of my life.”

Because speaking out about the FGM experiences in The Gambia frequently causes controversy, Naffie chose to use only her first name.

Many mothers are determined for their daughters to not endure the same traumatic experience that they did and are rejecting pressure from family members.

Girls are also at risk of being cut by their extended families without their parents’ consent, though. Families in many Gambian homes are housed in extended compounds, and children are frequently viewed as belonging to the wider family, not just their parents. That sometimes leads grandparents, aunts, or other relatives to feel they have the authority to make decisions about a child, including subjecting girls to FGM.

Some mothers claim to be wary of leaving their daughters with their families because they are constantly on edge. Sarjo Tamba, a single mother who pledged to protect her daughter from FGM, is one of them. While on a business trip last year, however, her partner’s mother oversaw the cutting of her five-year-old daughter. About two weeks after the incident, Sarjo’s return home, where she was the only one to find out about it.

The 34-year-old described one day when I was bathing her as I noticed something unusual on her private side. “That was when I realised she had been cut”.

Sarjo confronted her partner’s mother, who admitted. She was shocked and heartbroken. She is now in deep pain and distrusted as a result of the incident, according to Sarjo. Although she reported the case to the police, nothing has been done, she said, as officers told her they could not intervene in a family matter.

Defendant’s barriers

Rights groups have accused the Gambian authorities of failing to properly prosecute and enforce the 2015 ban. By 2024, only two cases were prosecuted in the 10 years since the law was passed.

Only one case saw the passing of convictions and sentences. In August of that year, three women in Bakadaji, in eastern Gambia, were given 15 000 Gambian dalasi ($210) for cutting three girls and getting ready to cut five more. All the girls were between four and 12 months old.

The case became contentious because many influential people opposed the sentencing because these were the first legal convictions. Abdoulie Fatty, a well-known imam, began vocally calling for the practice to be legalized after paying the accused people’s fines.

Modou Musa Sisawo, a spokesman for The Gambia’s police, blamed the secrecy surrounding FGM and said it was a barrier to finding and prosecuting cases.

The police typically only become aware of it when problems arise, such as this baby’s tragically, or when parents disagree, according to Sisawo. The police are “completely unaware” in the majority of cases, if there are no obvious problems or conflicts.

One mother told Al Jazeera it is particularly difficult to report relatives to the police when they are responsible for the cutting because of fear that family members might retaliate. That adds a second layer of fear and apathy to the practice.

All eyes are also on the Supreme Court, which has not yet decided whether or not the FGM ban will be enforced, as the trial of the three accused women in the most recent case is scheduled to begin. Rights groups and officials, meanwhile, say they will continue to create awareness on the dangers&nbsp, of FGM to prevent more tragedies.

Abdoulie Ceesay, the representative of the Wellingara constituency in which the recent tragedy occurred, expressed shock at learning about the baby’s death. Ceesay claimed that his office continues to contact local women leaders for their support in educating people about the dangers of FGM despite opposition from some religious scholars.

“The issue is sensitive”, Ceesay admitted. Some people in the country, he said, think advocates are working on a profit-making scheme because of the support received from international anti-FGM organizations. He continued, “That misconception makes the task more difficult.”