By: Nyima Sillah
Mba Yassin Fatty of Bakadagi-Mandinka Village in Niani District, Central River Region (CRR) recently caught circumcising eight children between the ages of 4 months to 1 year.
According to a press release issued by GAMCOTRAP, a Community-Based Facilitator and Coordinator at the CRR – North and South, Momodou Keita, was on his usual monitoring trip in the region when he was given a tip by a community member. But when he arrived at the scene, three out of the eight children were already circumcised.
“The total of the eight children slated for cutting, on Monday, the 16th of January at 10.51 am were all found at the compound of the circumciser. The incident was reported to the Kuntaur Police Station, which is currently working closely with GAMCOTRAP and Child Welfare Unit in Kuntaur to make sure that the remaining children are safe and justice is done.”
The statement continued: “It must be realized that the affected Circumciser broke the law banning FGM and the oath she made in 2013 not to circumcise anymore. She was trained by GAMCOTRAP and was among the batch of circumcisers who declared to abandon the practice in 2013 among 30 circumcisers during the 4th Dropping of the Knife Ceremony in Wassu.”
The statement stated that So far, this circumciser is the only one out of 30 circumcisers who abandoned the knife in 2013 in the region that has defaulted. “The public is hereby reminded that FGM violates the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls, and the law ban it.”
GAMCOTRAP assured that they will continue to monitor closely all the regions and support the CBFs to continue engaging with their various cluster communities.
