By: Nyima Sillah
Women’s rights activist cum the National Coordinator of the Network Against Gender-Based Violence (NGBV), Fallu Sowe, has asserted that women’s rights activists have another plan to ensure the protection of the rights of girls and women if at all the lawsuit filed at the Supreme Court for the repeal of the anti-FGM legislation goes through.
The National Assembly Member for FoniKansala, Almameh Gibba, who spearheaded a fruitless effort at the legislature to have the anti-FGM law overturned, has been joined by other proponents of FGM in filing a lawsuit at the superior court to challenge a parliamentary decision to uphold the law.
According to activist Sowe in an interview with The Voice, it’s his view that challenging the Parliament’s decision in court is not the right thing to do. That notwithstanding, he went, the activists are prepared to ensure that if there is any surprise from the court, they would also revert to the “necessary backups” to ensure that women and girls are protected, especially from the violations of their right to sexual andreproductive health.
“I am reminding all the pro-FGM campaigners that the law has been withheld and should be respected and implemented just like any other law in The Gambia. Therefore, until it is proven otherwise, they should advise their people to adhere to the law and abandon the practice,” he stated.
Sowe expressed his astonishment at the move of Almamy Gibba and allies in challenging the FGM law in court, saying he was thinking that they would employ a different strategy, knowing “very” well that the law is protecting the rights of women and girls.
He explained that the lawsuit would have some impact on their advocacy as most of them thought that the Parliament’s decision would effectively put a stop to FGM and allow activists to continue their advocacy at the community level about the harmful effects of the tradition.
“Them coming up with this new strategy to pursue their goal of legalizing FGM in The Gambia means we also need to strategically takesome other actions to ensure that the law is maintained. We, at the civil society level, are mobilizing our efforts and consulting with each other to ensure we take the necessary actions to ensure that the law is maintained,” Mr. Soweunderlined.
He called on the civil society and development partners to keenly follow the court case to ensure that they provide the necessary evidenceto the court to ensure that the FGM proponents do not have legal victory.
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