Dr Isatou Touray said, “female genital mutilation is a gross violation of the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls. It affects the bodily integrity of women. When children are being taken to circumcision, they are not usually told what is going to happen to them”.

She continued, “When female genital mutilation is carried out on a woman, the damage can never be rectified, because it involves the removal of a very sensitive and essential part of the female genitalia and the sexuality of the woman”.

Madam Touray said legislation against female genital mutilation is needed to protect and promote the human rights of women and children, adding that legislation would deter people from engaging in the practice.

She added that her organization has been working with the National Assembly members for the past two years for them to pass a bill that deals with the practice. She said some of the Gambian parliamentarians do not know much about FGM, and as a result think that it is a religious injunction.

“We are creating awareness on the existence of the International Bill of Rights of Women and all other conventions that protect the rights of women and children, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Protocol on the Rights of Women,” she remarked.

She added that these sensitization programmes are aimed at ensuring that when the draft women’s bill is brought before the Gambia National Assembly, it will not face resistance or unnecessary reservations.