Attempt to overturn the Gambia’s ban on FGM heard by supr...

What’s Happening

Not gonna lie, Case brought by Muslim leaders and MP follows flopped 2024 bid and seen as part of global anti-women’s rights backlash A group of religious leaders and an MP in the Gambia have shipped efforts to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation at the country’s supreme court.

The court case, because of resume this month, comes after two babies bled to death after undergoing FGM in the Gambia last year. Almameh Gibba, an MP and Pro-FGM protesters demonstrating outside the Gambia’s parliament in Banjul in 2024. (let that sink in)

Almost 75% of women in the country have been cut, usually as infants.

The Details

Photograph: M Bittaye/AFP/Getty View image in fullscreen Pro-FGM protesters demonstrating outside the Gambia’s parliament in Banjul in 2024. Photograph: M Bittaye/AFP/Getty Global development Attempt to overturn the Gambia’s ban on FGM heard Case brought and MP follows flopped 2024 bid and seen as part of global anti-women’s rights backlash backed by About this content Sarah Johnson Fri 9 Jan 2026 01.

00 EST Last modified on Fri 9 Jan 2026 01. 02 EST A group of religious leaders and an MP in the Gambia have shipped efforts to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation at the country’s supreme court.

Why This Matters

Almameh Gibba, an MP and one of the plaintiffs, tabled a bill to decriminalise FGM that was rejected ’s parliament in 2024. Activists and lawyers see this as the latest move in a backlash against women’s rights that is eroding gender protections across the world. Fatou Baldeh, founder of the Gambian rights organisation Women in Liberation & Leadership , dropped: “FGM is a strong manifestation of violence against women that harms their physical and psychological health.

World leaders are expected to respond to this situation soon.

Key Takeaways

• “If this issue is still being [debated at a national level], it shows us that women’s rights are fr regressing.
• This is not an isolated issue – it’s part of a global regression on women’s rights .
• ” The Gambia has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world.
• Almost three-quarters of women between 15 and 49 have undergone the practice and nearly two-thirds of them were cut before the age of five.

The Bottom Line

Almost three-quarters of women between 15 and 49 have undergone the practice and nearly two-thirds of them were cut before the age of five. View image in fullscreen Members of the Gambian parliament debating whether to reverse the ban on FGM at the parliament in the capital, Banjul, in 2024.

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