Women have been referring to GAMCOTRAP office, seeking advice, guidance and support on a daily basis, regarding matters of Violence Against Women, Personal Status Law etc.

An extraordinary case reported and was related to the rights of women to have space to market ice blocks they sell to support their families at Brikama in the western region. They have been abused by and intermediary man who collects money from them and never pay to NAWEC for the electricity consumed.  This was discovered when the electricity supply was disconnected.

GAMCOTRAP’s bridge building programme to protect girls for overseas:

GAMCOTRAP has been working with partners in some European countries to share information and track girls broutht to the Gambia for FGM.

There has been and increase in the number of cases reported to protect girls from FGM from Spain, Germany, America and Britain. It involved home visits to engage the extended families living the Gambia. So far all the girls involved have been protected.

Another recent case of FGM was reported to Basse Police station.  A girl of about three years, was a victim of a family dispute and became a victim of FGM.  The father knew about GAMCOTRAP and reported the case.

Outcome: the mother and extended family were counseled and the circumciser trained and she vowed never to cut a girl again.

Cases reported relate to the follow:

* Effects of FGM

* Property inheritance

* Divorce and eviction after having 11 children in the marriage

* Wife inheritance and the abuse of woman’s right as an individual

* Psychological

* Forced marriage, lack of support to continue education

* Forced marriage, went to continue schooling

* Girlfriend forced to marry someone else, while he decided to keep her virginity for himself

* Woman evicted with five children due to fighting with co-wife

* Conflict with wife’s family to protect his daughter from FGM

* Grade 9 Fula girl forced to marry in Cassamance

* Battered and abused by husband; while supporting the co-wife

The reported cases came from the following both urban and rural Gambia:

Kunkujang Mariam                         Fajara

Brikama Nyambai                           Faraba

Ebo Town                                    Jambanjelly

SomaBansang                               Bundung

Sare Jula in URR                            Basse Town

Mandinary                                    Banjul

These cases show that dealing with awareness creation activities indeed, women’s rights are human rights and global efforts are under taken by women’s rights activists all over the world.  GAMCOTRAP is in partnership with such global initiatives to promote women’s rights.  It is in this vain that a feminist oranization, V-Day has documented voice of the world in a film entitled, Vagina Monogue.  

The issues highlighted range from rape, sexual abuse, FGM, difficulty in child birth amongs others all relating to the female anatomy the vagina and silence around such abuses.  To begin with, let us first view how the female anatomy is affected by the practice of FGM in our own context.