A bill seeking to decriminalise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia has passed its latest parliamentary stage, known as the second reading.

Though FGM was criminalised in The Gambia in 2015, some seeking to overturn the ban argue that it violates religious freedom and is against the country’s cultural practices.

The bill will now go to a committee of MPs for further consideration.

Survivors of FGM and activists had hoped it would be thrown out. They said that not only did the practice cause lifelong damage but it was also against a woman’s right to bodily autonomy.