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Our Bodies. Our Culture. Our Religion. Our Choice.
All Women are Free to Choose (AWAFC) is a grassroots organization with the sole purpose of rallying circumcised women around the world to combat the negative impact of global anti-FGM campaigns and propaganda. Our goal is to empower affected African and Muslim women and girls in our own communities to make choices for ourselves regarding our bodies, our religious beliefs, our cultural practices and our lived experiences. We support grassroots women and adolescent girls in The Gambia (Gambian Women are Free to Choose) and in Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone Women are Free to Choose) in upholding gender inclusive circumcision whether for religious (Islamic) reasons or customary (i.e. Bondo and Sande) traditions. We also support the rights of adolescent girls and women to refuse female circumcision and work in communities to intervene on their behalf and protect them from undue pressures from their peers, family or community members.
We reject the terminology Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as well as the cultural appropriation of the aesthetics of various forms of female circumcision by predominantly white, educated, and affluent western women and doctors and their rebranding of our traditional bodily practices as "female genital cosmetic surgeries". We advocate for the equal treatment of all "non-medical" bodily practices, irrespective of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or socio-economic status and for global health policies that respect the EQUAL dignity, autonomy and humanity of all affected persons. For more information regarding our position on issues such as consent, harm, and ethics of circumcision (female and male) follow our blogs, press releases and other statements on this website and social media.
******New Press Release*********
A BIG WIN FOR SLWAFC TEAM - THANK YOU!
A BIG WIN FOR SLWAFC TEAM - THANK YOU!
Freetown, 23 October, 2025
The National Sowie Councils and Sierra Leone Women are Free to Choose note that on 14 October, 2025 President Maada Bio signed into law, the Child Rights Act 2025, which excluded the onerous anti-FGM provision tabled by the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Hon. Dr. Isata Mahoi. We applaud President Bio for doing the right thing – morally, legally and politically.
Pursuant to our joint press release on 7 July, 2025, we commend once more the entire well of Parliament, which unanimously voted to expunge Section 21(2), formerly Section 25, that made a reference to a ban on “FGM/C” under the age of 18. We note that due to the passing of the GEWE Act, over thirty percent of Sierra Leonean MPs are women; they also voted unanimously against the “FGM/C” provision.
We also express our indebtedness to the Council of Paramount Chiefs in Parliament and the National Council of Paramount Chiefs for their steadfast support as the custodians of our land and cultural traditions. In the final analysis these courageous representatives of the people, our Paramount Chiefs and MPs, especially the overwhelming majority of SLPP MPs, did the right thing - morally, legally and politically.
With respect to our well-meaning detractors who have complained about the omission of an FGM ban, we refer them to our comprehensive position paper (below) submitted to the Legislative Committee on 8 November 2024. We look forward to engaging all stakeholders including our opponents on the issue of the rights of circumcised women and girls to gender equality and equal protection in accordance with provisions under the Sierra Leone Constitution, the African Charter, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women and additional universal human rights instruments to which Sierra Leone is a signatory.
Our sister organization, Gambian Women are Free to Choose along with several other co-complainants including the Independent National Assembly Member, Hon. Almamy Gibba, who led the opposition to the Female Circumcision ban in The Gambia, are litigating these very human rights and Constitutional issues before the Supreme Court of The Gambia. We will keep you updated!
Signed Position Paper in Opposition to The Child Rights Bill submitted by the National Sowie Council and Sierra Leone Women are Free to Choose
URGENT VIDEO MESSAGE to SIERRA LEONE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON THE "CHILD RIGHTS" BILL AND THE MAPUTO PROTOCOL:
Response to the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child Press Release - Sierra Leone is under NO obligation to implement an unconstitutional anti-FGM or FGC ban!!
In a Historical Move Against Global FGM Campaigns - Bondo and Sande Women in Sierra Leone Call Out Cabinet Minister's Attempt to Hide an Anti-FGM/C Clause in Child Rights Bill
We have our Mothers' Backs!!!
Introducing SiA Magazine...
Are you sick and tired of hearing FGM propaganda in the major news outlets, on social media, in your classrooms, at your doctor's office, and in all sorts of random places? Are you writing a paper on "FGM" and you just feel there's another side to the story (there always is!)? We've started putting together a list of academic sources - journal articles, books and more that are critical of the current FGM narrative. Take a look at more balanced references here. Arm yourselves with knowledge so that you will never be afraid to engage with your friends, family members, classmates and co-workers on this topic! Share this website with others and let's continue the conversation about our bodies, our culture, our religions, our choices...not just our rites but our rights as women!
Check out the Sierra Leone Women are Free to Choose Facebook Page or Gambian Women are Free to Choose Facebook Page Today!! Make sure you follow us and tell us what you think!!
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"We are a bold movement of millions of grassroots and modern women of Bondo/Sande - the pre-ancient, all female, masked "secret societies" of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and The Gambia . Many of us are Muslims or Christians, rural farmers and traders, but also well-educated professionals, business women and women's rights activists. Our mission is to raise awareness about our African matriarchal heritage and traditions that pre-exist the patriarchal Abrahamic religions and faiths we uphold today. We also challenge western women's cultural appropriation of our female circumcision aesthetic and advocate for the decriminalization of all women's bodies worldwide! We invite you to learn more about who we are, our activism, our feminism, and importantly, our celebrations and performances of the rich complexity and fluidity of our ancestral gender ideologies!"
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Sierra Leonean Women Are Free to Choose and Gambian Women Are Free to Choose are now officially registered Community Based Organizations in Sierra Leone and The Gambia respectively.
SLWAFC is the first organized resistance to western financed anti- Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) campaigns, followed by GWAFC. We join hands with the governments of Sierra Leone and The Gambia, the National Councils of Sowies and National Councils of Paramount Chiefs, The Supreme Islamic Council and other entities to promulgate gender equality in bodily practices - irrespective of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, education and socioeconomic status - in the 21st Century and beyond! The specific aim of SLWAFC and GWAFC is to advance inter and intra gender equality of circumcised women and girls and to uphold our constitutional and basic human rights to gender inclusive circumcision. We also create programs to foster grassroots women's political inclusion and economic participation in all sectors. Visit SLWAFC page here Visit GWAFC page here |
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