Sierra Leone's First Lady has refused to call for making female genital mutilation (FGM) illegal. She says she doesn't have enough information about the harm it causes. Women's rights groups have responded with criticism, demanding that the government pass a law to ban it.

The timing matters. Earlier this year, 130 women's organizations wrote to the Sierra Leone government asking for an FGM ban. They did this after a woman died from complications of the procedure. According to Equality Now, which coordinated the letter, this death sparked renewed urgency. The pressure increased even more after Sierra Leone banned child marriage in July 2024. Activists immediately asked the government to take the same approach with FGM.

These two practices are connected in Sierra Leone through something called the Bondo society—a powerful women-only organization that secretly controls how FGM is performed across much of the country. When girls go through initiation ceremonies in the Bondo, both practices often happen together. Banning child marriage without addressing FGM means the deeper cultural system stays in place.

The numbers are stark. A 2019 health survey cited by UNICEF found that 83 percent of women and girls between 15 and 49 had undergone FGM. That's one of the highest rates in the world.

The First Lady's request for more data is worth examining. Medical experts have documented for decades that FGM causes serious harm: immediate bleeding and infection, plus long-term problems with pregnancy and childbirth, and lasting psychological damage. The World Health Organization says FGM is a human rights violation with no medical benefits. So when she says she needs more evidence, many critics see this as a political move rather than a genuine scientific concern. The Bondo society has real power in Sierra Leone, and its leaders have long opposed criminalizing FGM. Politicians who support a ban face serious pressure from those networks.

Here's the practical problem: laws without strong government support often don't work. Sierra Leone's child marriage ban itself took years of activism to pass, and it's still unclear how well it's being enforced. An FGM ban would be even harder. The Bondo operates through hidden female networks that the government doesn't control or even see. Without the president and the First Lady publicly opposing FGM, a law becomes just words on paper that people ignore—a pattern that repeats across West Africa.

What women's groups really want is a clear message from the top. They need the First Lady and other leaders to say publicly that FGM is wrong. When she refuses, it sends a different signal—whether that's her intention or not. For the 130 organizations that signed the letter, and for girls going through initiation this year, that silence carries real weight.

Sierra Leone has just shown it can change laws that protect people. It has women's organizations working together. The world is paying attention. Whether that momentum continues depends partly on whether the First Lady and other leaders choose to support it.