‘The Tradition Ends with Me’: Gambian Mother Vows to Protect Her Daughters from FGM

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A mother and survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) in central Gambia has vowed that her daughters will never undergo the practice, saying she wants to end a cycle of harm passed down through generations.

Fatoumatta Sillah, a native of Kibbir Wolof in the Central River Region, spoke during an interview conducted in February 2026 during a visit to her home village.

“The scar from cutting me isn’t from an accident,” she said. “It is a legacy — a physical reminder of a tradition that demanded obedience over wellbeing and pain over peace. When I watch my own child sleep, I make a silent vow: this is where the cycle breaks.”

 Sillah said female genital mutilation was deeply embedded in family and community traditions when she was growing up. “As a girl in the village, I saw many girls being cut,” she said.

 “FGM is part of family and traditional history, and that is why it is difficult to stop.” Now a mother of four, she said becoming a parent changed her perspective and strengthened her determination to protect her children.

“We inherit more than names and belongings from our parents,” she said. “We inherit customs and beliefs — and sometimes wounds.

 For me, the most important responsibility is to make sure the harmful parts of that legacy end with me.” Sillah said she had made a firm commitment that none of her daughters would undergo FGM, a decision she discussed with her husband before marriage.

 “Before we got married, I told my husband that if we were blessed with daughters, they would never go through FGM,” she said.

 “I am lucky to have a husband who understands the problems that come with the practice. We stand together to protect our daughters.”

A childhood marked by secrecy

Sillah said she was seven years old when she was taken to undergo FGM during a school holiday. According to her account, the decision was arranged by her late grandmother, who was a traditional circumciser.

“It was not my mother who circumcised me,” she said. “It was my grandmother. She used to tell my mother that I was her favourite, and she often asked me to come and visit her.”

During one school holiday, her mother packed her clothes and told her she would be staying with her grandmother for several weeks — longer than usual.

 “I knew something was different because my mother never allowed me to stay away for that long,” she said. “This time she even escorted me, which she had never done before.” Upon arrival, Sillah said her mother told her she would undergo a “cleansing” ceremony.

“I asked what she meant by cleansing me,” she said. “She explained that as a girl, there was a traditional practice I needed to go through. She said if I did not do it, my friends would reject me and I might not get married in the future.”

 The following morning, she said, groups of women and girls gathered and walked towards a forested area where the procedures were carried out.

“There were no men among them,” she said. “My grandmother bathed me and told me to follow her. When it was my turn, she removed my clothes and asked me to sit on a wooden plank. They used a sharp object to cut me.”

She recalled crying as she saw blood flowing.

“When they finished, they told us we were now clean,” she said. Sillah said the girls spent more than 10 days together in the bush recovering from the procedures before returning home to celebrations.

“I remember one of the girls became very sick because she was bleeding heavily,” she said. “They took her to the hospital and later brought her back.”

Breaking the cycle

As she grew older, Sillah said she began to understand the long-term consequences of FGM. Before her marriage, she underwent another procedure to open what she described as a seal created during the initial cutting.

 Today, she speaks openly about her experience as part of efforts to discourage the practice in her community. “The lessons I learned in silence, my daughters will never have to learn through pain,” she said. For Sillah, ending FGM is not only a personal decision but a responsibility to future generations.

“The tradition stops with us,” she said.

This article is part of the Breaking the Silence: Voices of FGM Survivors Project, supported by the Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD UK).

Author: Nelson Manneh