Crowds formed to protest against a bill aimed at decriminalizing female genital mutilation protest as the Gambian Parliament debated the bill on Monday.

Gambian lawmakers voted on Monday, March 18, to advance to the next parliamentary stage a highly controversial bill that seeks to lift a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), which has been in place since 2015. The issue has divided the tiny West African nation for months, with hundreds gathering to protest outside parliament.

“The bill seeks to uphold religious loyalty and safeguard cultural norms and values,” Almameh Gibba, the lawmaker who introduced the bill, said during the debate. “The use of a ban on female circumcision is direct violation of the citizens’ rights to practice their culture and religion,” he added. But activists and rights organizations say the suggested legislation reverses years of progress and risks damaging the country’s human rights record.

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