FGM was prohibited in Gambia in 2015 with the imposition of fines and prison sentences of up to three years for individuals who engaged in it.
Gambia's parliament has voted to uphold a landmark law that bans female genital mutilation in the largely Muslim nation, after religious groups pushed for the legislation to be repealed.
If Monday's bid had been successful, the tiny West African country would have been the first in the world to re-legalise female genital mutilation after criminalising it.
FGM was prohibited in Gambia in 2015 with the imposition of fines and prison sentences of up to three years for individuals who engaged in it.
The law also punished perpetrators with life sentences in cases where the practice led to death.
The United Nations says 73 per cent of women aged between 15 and 49 years in Gambia had experienced FGM as of 2020.
More than 65 per cent of those women were subjected to the practice at age five.
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