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| Dr Touray flanked on the Left by Amie Bojang |
Children, youth,
women and men from all walks of life including people with disabilities, are
joining the global determination to end the multiple violence’s, a globally coordinated campaign aimed to call to an
end of violence against women and girls, according to GAMCOTRAP, a leading
women’s rights organization in country.
Thousands of One Billion Rising for Justice Events will take place
throughout the world. These events are organized and produced by local
activists. It’s the day
of synchronized action when one billion people in 207 countries will rise for
justice.
BILLION
RISING FOR JUSTICE is a global call to women survivors of violence and those
who love them to gather safely in community outside places where they are
entitled to justice – courthouses, police stations, government offices,
school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice,
military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public
gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not.
It
is a call to survivors to break the silence and release their stories –
politically, spiritually, outrageously – through art, dance, marches, ritual,
song, spoken word, testimonies and whatever way feels right.
“Rising
for justice is about showing solidarity by coming together to celebrate the
courage of women survivors of violence,” Dr. Isatou Touray V-day Coordinator
for the One Billion Rising in West Africa said in a press release.
Ahead
of the rising justice for justice in The Gambia, Dr Touray called for political
will to support the coordination of the efforts to end FGM with legislation to
prohibit.
There
is no specific law banning FGM in The Gambia even though a draft proposed bill
to prohibit FGM has been subjected to a national consultation and submitted to
the Ministry of Women’s Affairs at the Office of the Vice President and
Minister for Women’s Affairs, the Women’s Bureau, the Justice Ministry and the office
of the Ombudsman.
“It
is justice for the voices of the communities calling for a law to end FGM to be
honored” Touray said.
V-day is
founded by Eve Ensler, a journalist and writer for 15 years and is celebrated
on Valentine’s Day to bring focus to all forms of violence such as rape, early
marriage, battering, Female Genital Mutilation, amongst others and to
contribute to the global efforts to end these atrocities in every country and
community.
“Powerful revolutionary energy that is rising
around the planet and the plans that the people have made in 180 countries in
towns, villages and cities is astonishing.
It all started with a vision of how to address the issue of I in 3 women
being violated.” Eve Ensler said.
Gamcotrap
is a women’s rights NGO working in the area of women and girls and to stop
harmful practices that affect the lives and circumstances of women and girls in
the Gambia. They have been very active and effective in stopping FGM
In 2013
GAMCOTRAP joined others in the world to observer
the one billion rising in Lower River Region of the country, where hundreds
of women, men and children rose up to dance, singing very emotional songs.
Author: Binta A Bah
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