31 May 2024 – The Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), in collaboration with its partners, issued a joint advocacy statement regarding the attempted repeal of The Gambia’s legislation prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the country. The progression of the proposed bill to decriminalize FGM raised grave concerns about the future of human and peoples’ rights for vulnerable groups on the continent. In support of our ongoing advocacy for women and children’s rights in Africa, PALU issued this statement jointly with the Institute for African Women in Law (IAWL), Equality Now, the Centre for Human Rights (CHR-Pretoria), the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA), the Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network (Southern Defenders), the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA Network), the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), and the West African Bar Association (WABA).
This advocacy effort aimed to amplify the voices of Gambian women, as well as local and international CSOs who were actively advocating against the proposed law ahead of parliament’s vote in June. PALU is pleased to report that the collective efforts yielded a positive outcome: on July 15, 2024, parliament voted against the bill, ultimately retaining the law outlawing FGM in the country.