Gambia

The Republic of The Gambia is the smallest nation in continental Africa, its borders reflecting the British colonial possession of the area surrounding the Gambia River in the midst of otherwise French-controlled West Africa. One of the poorest countries in the world, the majority (90 percent) of its 1.7 million people are Muslims, with the remainder following Christian denominations or indigenous religions.

Women constitute 70 percent of the agricultural workforce and are responsible for most of the food production. However, their access to training and the means of production is limited, and women have few rights to land ownership. Women make up 4.9 percent of the qualified workforce and 61.9 percent of the unqualified workforce.

The 1997 Constitution confers women with equal rights to men and prohibits discrimination based on gender, but it also explicitly proclaims the need to preserve traditions and customs. In 1992, Gambia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. However, Gambia has not integrated many of the legislative and legal provisions contained in the convention into its legislation. Domestic law is therefore often in contradiction to the convention, and especially to those articles concerning family law. The country's legal system allows the coexistence of civil law, customary law, and Islamic Sharià. The lives of most Gambian women are subject to the law of the Sharià and/or customary law. Sharià decrees are generally viewed to be discriminatory toward women, in particular regarding marriage, divorce, and inheritance rights. Marriages in Gambia are frequently arranged, and polygamy is practiced (a Muslim man may take up to four wives). Women in polygamous unions have property and other rights arising from the marriage, including the option to divorce, but have no legal entitlement to approve or be advised in advance of subsequent marriages. There is no minimum legal age for marriage, and child betrothal is still practiced under customary law, resulting in a high rate of early marriage: a 2004 United Nations report places 39 percent of Gambian girls aged between 15 and 19 years as married, widowed, or divorced.

Such traditional practices, including wife inheritance and female genital surgery (FGS) expose Gambian women and girls to reproductive and health [Page 595]problems. FGS, a traditional practice involving the alteration or removal of the external female genitalia, is widespread in Gambia, particularly in rural areas, with data from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) indicating that at least 78 percent of Gambian women have undergone FGS. The custom is not illegal in Gambia, the president of the Republic having stated that the practice is part of Gambian culture and cannot be prohibited. However, in recent years awareness-raising campaigns have increased at the grassroots level, promoted by nongovernmental organizations concerned with women's health.

Maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world, with an average rate of 1,000 out of 100,000, climbing to 1,600 out of 100,000 in rural areas. This is linked to the frequency of early marriage, as many girls are married as soon as they reach puberty. Because their needs are traditionally treated as secondary, women are more likely than men to suffer from nutritional deficiencies, particularly at times when agricultural work is hardest. Female life expectancy averages 55.4 years, and the rate of female literacy lags behind that of men (25 percent vs. 53 percent), as families tend to give priority to sons’ education over that of daughters.” In recent years, the government has increased its efforts in this area through provision of free primary level education and creating “girl-friendly schools,” which encourage the education of girls. However, no measures have been taken to outlaw practices preventing the education of girls, such as early marriage and employment in domestic service.

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