Navigating the politics of backlash: women's rights and repealing the FGM ban in The Gambia

This working paper contributes to a research series exploring the politics of anti-gender backlash against sexual and reproductive health and rights, sharing insights from three country contexts: Kenya, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

The Gambia has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the world, with the practice deeply rooted in culture and tradition. Although female genital mutilation was criminalised in 2015, nearly a decade passed without any substantive enforcement of the law. 

In 2023, the first convictions under the law became a catalyst for a concerted political backlash and the presentation of a private member's bill in the National Assembly. This threatened to make The Gambia the first country ever to reverse a ban on the practice of FGM.

This research sets out to understand the stakeholder motivations and influences that led to the introduction of the bill, its passing at first and second readings, and ultimately, its rejection by the National Assembly. By employing a political economy analysis to complement activist interviews, the paper maps the national dynamics and subsequent events, with the aim to support international development actors seeking to better assess opportunities and obstacles to their initiatives on gender rights.

What shaped the emergence of the initial ban on FGM, the bill to repeal it, and its subsequent defeat? Who were the political and religious figureheads at the centre of the backlash? What was the wider contextual and cultural landscape influencing stakeholder interests on both sides of the issue? What will happen when the Supreme Court hears the case to decriminalise FGM later in 2025?

This paper presents an analysis of the salient economic, social and political factors, along with insights on what might lie ahead.