GENEVA - Independent rights experts* and international and regional expert mechanisms on ending discrimination and gender-based violence against women and girls said the National Assembly of The Gambia's rejection of a bill seeking to lift the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) has avoided a dangerous precedent undermining a range of women's rights.
"The vote is a testament to the determination and tenacity of Gambian women and girls, women civil society organisations and their allies, who have spared no effort to ensure that the ban on FGM is upheld and with it, the right of women and girls in The Gambia to live a life that is free from gender-based violence," international and regional experts said in a statement.
"We salute the strong message that The Gambia and Gambian society has passed to the international community that women and girls have an unequivocal right not to be subjected to FGM under any circumstances, in line with The Gambia's obligations under international human rights law."
They said overturning the law would have created a dangerous precedent rolling back on women's rights to life, health, safety, physical integrity, bodily autonomy, privacy, dignity and freedom from gender-based violence and torture, and its impact would have been felt beyond The Gambia.
