Banjul, The Gambia – On a rainy morning in early August, a newborn girl suffering severe vaginal wounds was rushed to Banjul’s Bundung Maternal and Child Health Hospital. By the time she was attended to, the doctors could do nothing – the baby had bled to death.

The Gambian authorities have since confirmed that the one-month-old died from injuries linked to female genital mutilation (FGM), a banned practice in the small West African country.

The case sent shockwaves through the small community of Wellingara, some 17 kilometres (10 miles) from the capital, Banjul, where the baby’s family is from. At least three women from the area were arrested over the death, including the person who cut the child, as well as the baby’s mother.

“She is the unlucky one,” a neighbour said, referring to t

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