AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 17 May 1997, Gambia Telecommunications (GAMTEL), a state-owned company that controls radio and television stations with the largest audiences in the country, issued a statement prohibiting programs or news items that "either seemingly oppose female genital mutilation or tend to portray the medical hazard about the practice." The new policy requires that all programs be previewed to ensure compliance and calls for the active use of the media to support female genital mutilation.

On 27 May 1997, the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP), a non-governmental organization, delivered a statement to Gambian President Yaya A.J.J. Jammeh condemning the new policy. GAMCOTRAP has been campaigning for the end of female genital mutilation since 1984.

It is estimated that 70-80% of women in Gambia undergo female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision. The procedure is typically performed on girls between five and twelve years old by non-medical personnel with crude and unsterile equipment, and without anesthetic. Supporters of the procedure defend it as a means of ensuring a women's virginity by suppressing her sexual desires, thereby making her more suitable for marriage.

There is no evidence that female genital mutilation improves the health of the child in any way. To the contrary, infection, excessive bleeding, severe pain during urination, menstruation, sexual intercourse, and childbirth, psychological trauma, and death are common consequences of the operation.

In April 1997, the World Health Organization, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the U.N. Population Fund (UNPF) appealed to governments to support efforts to end female genital mutilation. The World Medical Association adopted a statement on female genital mutilation in October 1993 at the 45th World Medical Assembly in which it "condemns the practice of genital mutilation including circumcision where women and girls are concerned and condemns the participation of physicians in the execution of such practices."

Female genital mutilation constitutes a serious violation of international human rights standards, including those enumerated in the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (Rights of the Child Convention), and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (the African Charter), which are all legally binding on Gambia as a State Party.

Under CEDAW:

• States Parties shall refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation and to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to codify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women (Article 2);
• shall take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women (Article 5); and
• shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and shall ensure the interests of the children shall be paramount (Article 16).

Under the Rights of the Child Convention:

• States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to bolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children (Article 24);
• shall condemn all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, while in the care of parents, legal guardians or any other person who has the care of the child (Article 19); and
• shall ensure that no child shall be subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 37).

Under the African Charter:

• Every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health (Article 16);
• States Parties shall take the necessary measures to protect the health of their people (Article 16); and
• shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also censure the protection of the rights of the women and the child as stipulated in international declarations and conventions (Article 18).

(Sources of information on this case include: Equality Now Alert, July 1997; the World Medical Association; Female Genital Mutilation: A Call for Global Action, by Nahid Touia; El Nadim Center for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence; the New England Journal of Medicine, v. 331, 15 September 1994, no. 11; International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 46 (1994), 127-135, and Amnesty International.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes, or airmail letters:

• condemning female genital mutilation as a practice with no legitimate medical basis;
• expressing concern about the harmful effects of female genital mutilation on the health of women and female children; and
• calling on GAMTEL to reverse its decision to prohibit the broadcasting of programs that oppose female genital mutilation.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

Mr. Bakary Njie
Managing Director of GAMTEL
Banjul, GAMBIA
fax: 011-220-226699


President Yaya A.J.J. Jammeh
President of the Republic of Gambia
Banjul, GAMBIA
telex: 2240

COPIES SENT TO:

Equality Now
P.O. Box 20646
Columbus Circle Station
New York, NY 10023

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