Gambia baby death heightens alarm over female genital mutilation
The baby girl was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in the capital Banjul after being "allegedly subjected to circumcision" and developing severe bleeding, The Gambia Police Force said in a statement Sunday.
The death has sparked outrage among women's rights defenders working to combat the deeply rooted cultural and religious practice that they say is a harmful violation against women and girls.
"FGM is not a cultural tradition to be defended -- it is a form of gender-based violence that can kill," Santana Simiyu, a human rights lawyer with rights group Equality Now, said in a statement sent to AFP Tuesday.
Two women allegedly involved in the case are in custody, police said, as an investigation is carried out in the western town of Wellingara, where the incident occurred.
Researchers at Britain's University of Birmingham estimated in a study published in 2023 that approximately 44,320 girls and young women die each year due to FGM in the countries where it is practised.
Former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, now in exile, outlawed FGM in 2015, branding it outdated and not a requirement of Islam.
Parliament later that year adopted the first law specifically banning the practice, which is now punishable by up to three years in prison but is rarely enforced.
In July 2024, lawmakers revisited the matter, upholding the 2015 law despite pressure from religious traditionalists.
But the ban was immediately challenged before the Gambian Supreme Court, where the petition remains pending.
"If the Gambia's Supreme Court rules that the country's law prohibiting FGM is unconstitutional, it would have a hugely detrimental impact on the well-being of women and girls, leaving them without legal protections," Simiyu said.
FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs.
It can lead to serious health problems including infections, bleeding, infertility and complications in childbirth.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Gambia baby death heightens alarm over female genital mutilation
The Gambia has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world, with 73 percent of women and girls aged 15 to 49 having undergone the procedure, according to 2024 figures from UNICEF. The baby girl was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in the capital Banjul after being "allegedly subjected to circumcision" and developing severe bleeding, The Gambia Police Force said in a statement Sunday. The death has sparked outrage among women's rights defenders working to combat the deeply rooted cultural and religious practice that they say is a harmful violation against women and girls. "FGM is not a cultural tradition to be defended -- it is a form of gender-based violence that can kill," Santana Simiyu, a human rights lawyer with rights group Equality Now, said in a statement sent to AFP Tuesday. Two women allegedly involved in the case are in custody, police said, as an investigation is carried out in the western town of Wellingara, where the incident occurred. Researchers at Britain's University of Birmingham estimated in a study published in 2023 that approximately 44,320 girls and young women die each year due to FGM in the countries where it is practised. Former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, now in exile, outlawed FGM in 2015, branding it outdated and not a requirement of Islam. Parliament later that year adopted the first law specifically banning the practice, which is now punishable by up to three years in prison but is rarely enforced. In July 2024, lawmakers revisited the matter, upholding the 2015 law despite pressure from religious traditionalists. But the ban was immediately challenged before the Gambian Supreme Court, where the petition remains pending. "If the Gambia's Supreme Court rules that the country's law prohibiting FGM is unconstitutional, it would have a hugely detrimental impact on the well-being of women and girls, leaving them without legal protections," Simiyu said. FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs. It can lead to serious health problems including infections, bleeding, infertility and complications in childbirth.
France 24
5 days ago
- France 24
DR Congo: Former PM A. Muzito joins government as cabinet reshuffle brings in opposition members
Meanwhile, a South African court has ruled that the body of former Zambian president Edgar Lungu must be returned to Lusaka for a state funeral. This is a setback for his family, who had wanted him to be buried in South Africa in a private ceremony. The legal dispute with the Zambian government began in June, after Lungu died while receiving medical treatment. Fewer than 3% of the genomes used in global cancer research come from Africa. This glaring gap leaves many treatments less effective for people of African descent. Yet the continent records more than 700,000 cancer deaths each year. In Accra, a biotech company is working to address this issue by building Africa's first genetic database, drawing on data from thousands of patients across several countries.
France 24
5 days ago
- France 24
The Bright Side: Abidjan landfill transformed into city parkland
Beneath the fresh grass and brand-new infrastructure of Abidjan's Akouedo Park lie millions of tons of waste that for decades plagued locals' lives and health. Transforming landfill into recreational spaces – turning trash into landscaped treasure – has become something of a trend in recent years from New York to New Zealand. Abidjan, Ivory Coast 's bustling economic hub, has now enthusiastically got in on the act. For residents of this eastern neighbourhood, covering over a landfill area, opened in 1965 and closed in 2018, is a blessing. The new park spans some 100 hectares, affording the rapidly urbanising city of some six million people an all too rare green space. After five years of construction, the urban park is ready to open, though an official date has yet to be confirmed. The radical change of scenery is a boon as the previous dumping of hazardous toxic waste had been a source of health, environmental and safety problems. 'Good to breathe' "We suffered a lot," Celestine Maile, who has lived in Akouedo for more than 30 years, told AFP. Today, "it feels good to breathe", she said, beaming, taking a look around the transformed surroundings. "There were mountains of garbage, and underneath, water used to flow everywhere," she recalled, of how things once were. Along with the exposure to odours and pests, the landfill constituted "a major public health problem", according to a 2019 study, which Ivorian scientists conducted on the toxicological risks to people living nearby. 01:58 Its authors recommended the urgent "closure and rehabilitation" of the site, saying people living in the vicinity were "clearly exposed to poisoning from pollutants", including lead, mercury and carcinogenic chromium. Exposure to such pollution also helped give rise to conditions such as malaria, gastroenteritis and respiratory problems, the researchers said. "The garbage caused illnesses," stressed Maile, who said she suffers from eye problems linked to decades of living near the dump. Akouedo had also become a haven for drug dealing where assaults were common, she added. 'Cemetery' resurrected "That dump really felt like a cemetery," said Séverin Alobo, who heads the office of the traditional chief of the Akouedo district. For Alobo, the creation of Akouedo Park has brought "repair" to the neighbourhood. "The name Akouedo will no longer be associated with a landfill, but with a beautiful urban park," said Ivorian Minister of Hydraulics, Sanitation and Health Bouaké Fofana. "What was lost has been largely regained," he added. The minister said that 750 direct and indirect jobs had been created as a result of the project, which also includes a market, a middle school and the renovation of two kilometres of neighbourhood roads. Financed by the Ivorian government to the tune of 124 billion CFA francs ($221 million, 189 million euros), the overhaul also has an environmental component. The waste stored under the park will now be used for energy resources thanks to a drainage and capture system. Biogas and liquids resulting from the fermentation of the 53 million tons of accumulated waste are transported to a plant to be converted into electricity to power the park and part of the national grid. The park has an "Environmental House" too, which Fofana said would host events on contemporary environmental issues. Visitors will be able to play sports in the park, which includes a tennis court and two football pitches. There is also a large footbridge that winds through an embryonic tropical forest and shared vegetable gardens. Like many rapidly urbanising African cities grappling with the challenge of managing waste, Abidjan has found a new, bigger substitute for the Akouedo landfill. Long the city's only waste storage site, it has been replaced by one with four times as much storage capacity in the Abidjan suburb of Kossihouen.
