By Arret Jatta
The National Assembly Member for Lower Fulladu West Hon. Gibbi MballowThursday burst into tears during the consultation meeting with Safe Hands for Girls and Future in Our Hands.
Hon. Mballow is also a member of the National Assembly’s joint committee for Health and Gender, Children and Social Welfare.
On Thursday 23th May, The founder of Safe Hands for Girls Jaha Dukureh and representatives from Future in our Hands Gambia, submitted their position papers to the Joint Committee.
Dukureh said during the meeting that as someone who has live experiences of going through the practice and having spent ten years speaking out against her own experiences of going through FGM. “I’ve listened to people who dehumanize me, I’ve listened to people who say that we are lying, I’ve listened to people who say that we are doing this because the white people are giving us money to come and tell them that our culture is bad,” she remarked.
“I want to clearly say that as JahaDukureh and as someone that was born in this country, I can never be bought. Secondly I do not do this work because of the west, I care about this country and our women,” she clarified. Dukurehfurther denied receiving any funding from Western governments. “Since this campaign has started to repeal the law against FGM there is not a single western government that can tell you that they have funded any of what we are doing”, she stressed.
She explained that she discovered what FGM really was when she got married.
“I remember the night that I got married that was the first time I discovered what the practice of FGM is.”
She added that what she went through was the type 3 of FGM.
“What I went through was the sealing of the vagina. When I got married and my husband was trying to have sex with me he pushed down on me until he wounded himself. That’s when I discovered what this practice of FGM is. And after that night I had to be taken to the hospital to remove the seal and I remember clearly when they told me that I have to come back home and have sex with my husband the same night in order for the seal not to close. It’s not something that I like talking about,” Dukureh narrated.
After Jaha Dukureh’s deliberation, Hon. Mballow couldn’t control his emotions and this led to his outburst of tears in front of everyone present at the consultation meeting.