Female genital mutilation in infancy still common, Gambian mothers say

BASSE, The Gambia –  Hulay Damba, 55, spent years performing female genital mutilation on girls in her community. Her role as a practitioner was passed down from her grandmother. “It was what I was taught,” she explained. 

Despite years of steady advocacy in the Gambia, rates of female genital mutilation remain high, even among younger generations. According to 2021 data, almost three quarters of girls aged 15 to 19 have been subjected to female genital mutilation, roughly the same proportion as women a generation older than them (aged 45 to 49). 

Surveys of mothers also show mixed progress: When women with daughters aged 25 and under were asked whether their daughters had been been subjected to female genital mutilation, 54 per cent said no. 

But 22 per cent said that their daughters had not only undergone the practice – they had experienced it by their first birthday. 

Changing minds

In the Gambia, most girls who experience female genital mutilation have flesh removed during the procedure. About 12 per cent are sewn closed. Nearly all of them experience the practice at the hands of traditional practitioners like Ms. Damba. 

Ms. Damba used to earn a reliable seasonal income by performing the procedure. “I believed it was honourable,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. 

All that changed about six years ago, when she attended a series of dialogues, led by the NGO Tostan with support from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) through UNFPA, about the lasting harms associated with female genital mutilation – consequences that can include haemorrhage, infection and even death. 

 “Looking back, I wish I had known then what I know now,” said Ms. Damba.

Today, she’s part of a community-led movement made up of former practitioners, mothers and young people working to end the practice. “I now use my voice to raise awareness,” she says, “because every girl deserves to grow up safe and whole.”

Consequences in childbirth

Fatou* spoke to UNFPA in the quiet of the maternity ward at Basse District Hospital. At only 16, she cradled a newborn girl in her arms, recovering from a difficult delivery.

Like so many others, Fatou had undergone female genital mutilation – which is known to significantly increase the risks of childbirth. Fatou’s labour was obstructed by scar tissue, a threat to her life and her baby’s. 

Fortunately, a midwife was able to intervene.

The hospital is among a growing network of health facilities that are part of a UNFPA programme – funded by the AICS project, with additional support from China Aid – that provides special training enabling health providers to address the consequences of female genital mutilation, among other vital sexual and reproductive health services.

More action needed

Yet much more action is needed. 

Last year, lawmakers sought, unsuccessfully, to legalize the female genital mutilation, which has been banned in the Gambia since 2015. Girls, including babies, continue to undergo the procedure – and to suffer the consequences.

It is no coincidence that the practice is overwhelmingly carried out by older women, says Fatou Baldeh, founder of the local organization Women in Liberation and Leadership. “Women remain both victims and enforcers of a deeply violent tradition rooted in gender inequality,” she said. “These women are not merely perpetrators; they are products of a system that teaches from birth that pain and sacrifice are intrinsic to womanhood.” 

What is needed, she added, are efforts to “dismantle the structures that pressure women into performing this act.”

Now a new generation of advocates is rising to the challenge. Ramata Baldeh, 18, experienced female genital mutilation at a young age – but says the practice stops with her. 

“If I have a daughter one day, I will never allow her to go through the same thing,” she said. “I want her to go to school, to dream, to choose her path.”

* Name changed for privacy and protection