Matty Jobe and Ruth Maclean

Story: The story focuses on the deep rooted traditional believe of the Gambian 'cutter', to her any woman who has not been circumcised is unclean. Mba Yassin Cham, the first woman convicted of the act since after the ban in 2015 still deeply believes that girls should be circumcised, the story highlights. In a small village in the North Bank of the Gambia, Mba Yassin is training her successor who will continue the 'good cause' when she's gone. The story also reveals how in the name of community service the man who calls himself Lion Man of the Gambia was encouraging FGM secretly in local communities while claiming to be the champion of the fight against it in public. The better truth you learn while reading the story is that the fight against FGM in the Gambia is a long and does not show signs of ending very soon.

Published in: October 26, 2025