{"id":15899,"date":"2025-12-23T10:35:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/?p=15899"},"modified":"2025-12-23T10:42:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:42:58","slug":"when-the-courtroom-becomes-a-threat-to-girls-bodies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/when-the-courtroom-becomes-a-threat-to-girls-bodies\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Courtroom Becomes a Threat to Girls\u2019 Bodies"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"15899\" class=\"elementor elementor-15899\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08175c3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"08175c3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3287b86 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3287b86\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">When the Courtroom Becomes a Threat to Girls\u2019 Bodies<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70986af e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"70986af\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-604ddb3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"604ddb3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am a Gambian woman.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am a survivor.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, I am deeply disturbed.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I heard in our Supreme Court Last week was not just a legal argument. It was a warning.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When an imam stands before the highest court of the land and declares that he would \u201crather die\u201d than abandon female circumcision, what he is really saying is this: that the pain of girls, the trauma carried by women, and the lives lost along the way are acceptable collateral in the name of belief.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let us be clear: cutting a girl is not faith. It is violence.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ed7dbc9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"ed7dbc9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fe19fd6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"fe19fd6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">God Is Not the Author of Harm<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bb86175 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"bb86175\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9a6f57b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9a6f57b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Female genital mutilation, whether called FGM or \u201cfemale circumcision\u201d is the intentional cutting of a child\u2019s body for non-medical reasons. No matter how it is renamed, minimised, or sanitised, the harm remains the same.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our country banned FGM in 2015 because it harms, traumatises, and in some cases kills girls and babies. That law did not come from foreign pressure alone it came from survivors, from mothers, from health workers, from Gambians who were brave enough to say: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">enough<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To hear arguments today that dismiss deaths as \u201cGod\u2019s destiny,\u201d reduce harm to \u201cjust a drop of blood,\u201d or suggest that girls must suffer so men can control women\u2019s sexuality is not only dangerous, it is dehumanising.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No religion requires the suffering of a child. No tradition is more sacred than a girl\u2019s life, health, and dignity.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e356758 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e356758\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d967cd4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d967cd4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">This Is Bigger Than One Court Case<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-410b50f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"410b50f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2292397 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2292397\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What we are witnessing is not happening in isolation.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Across the world, there is a growing pushback against women\u2019s and girls\u2019 rights:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rising misogyny<\/span><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Normalisation of violence against women<\/span><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increasing femicide<\/span><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disturbing levels of online and offline sexual exploitation of children<\/span><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FGM sits squarely within this global backlash.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Religion is being deliberately conflated with culture, selectively interpreted, and weaponised to justify control over girls\u2019 bodies. This is not about faith. It is about power. It is about keeping women \u201cin their place\u201d\u00a0 whatever that place is supposed to be.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And let us say this clearly too: <\/span><b>not all men support this violence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Many men\u00a0 fathers, brothers, scholars, activists stand firmly against FGM. They are our allies, and they are essential. The voices dominating courtrooms and parliaments do not speak for all.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db05537 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"db05537\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6a6d212 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6a6d212\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Ten Years of Progress Under Threat<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a31e4c2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"a31e4c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0805b58 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0805b58\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ten years ago, a powerful anti-FGM movement took root in The Gambia. Through community work, survivor testimony, advocacy, and courage, we made real progress. Silence was broken. Laws were passed. Girls were protected.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, ten years later, the tables are turning.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The repeal attempt in Parliament, the constitutional challenge, and the rhetoric being aired in court all signal a coordinated effort to roll back hard-won gains. It feels, painfully, like being pushed back to square one; forced once again to justify why girls deserve bodily autonomy and safety.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why calls to <\/span><b>review and strengthen the global anti-FGM strategy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are not academic exercises. They are urgent. The opposition has adapted. They are organising. They are reframing harm as rights. We must do the same\u00a0 smarter, stronger, and more strategically.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bb0b8a2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"bb0b8a2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7fa84f9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7fa84f9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">We Will Not Go Back<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e1e05c4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e1e05c4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d945368 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d945368\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I speak not out of hatred, but out of frustration and love.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love for the girls growing up in this country.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love for the mothers who live in fear and secrecy.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love for a future where Gambian girls are not born into pain disguised as tradition.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We cannot move backwards.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We cannot dress harm as belief.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And we will not be silent while our daughters are put at risk.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This moment demands courage, but also strategy. It demands survivor-centred advocacy, strong legal defence of the ban, community engagement that does not compromise on human rights, and solidarity across genders, generations, and borders.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fight against FGM has never been easy.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> But it has always been necessary.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And we are not done.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f0b2299 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"f0b2299\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d7758df elementor-widget elementor-widget-author-box\" data-id=\"d7758df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"author-box.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-author-box\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/team-members\/mamlisa-camara\/\" class=\"elementor-author-box__avatar\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AM408655-scaled.jpg?fit=200%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Picture of MamLisa Camara\" loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-author-box__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/team-members\/mamlisa-camara\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"elementor-author-box__name\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMamLisa Camara\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-author-box__bio\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>MamLisa Camara is a leading grassroots campaigner with extensive experience in community development, as well as women and children\u2019s rights programs. Her activism is supported by the Soroptimist International, a worldwide volunteer service organization for women who work for peace, and to improve the lives of women and girls. She is also the National Coordinator for Safe Hands for Girls in Gambia.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am a Gambian woman.<br \/>\nI am a survivor.<br \/>\nAnd today, I am deeply disturbed.<br \/>\nWhat I heard in our Supreme Court this week was not just a legal argument. It was a warning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":15904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-blog1","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mamlisa-camara.webp?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15899"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15909,"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15899\/revisions\/15909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awra-group.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}