Mauritanian civil society organizations, led by the Association mauritanienne pour la santé de la mère et de l'enfant (AMSME), the NGO ACTIONS and the RGFM, held a ceremony at Nouakchott Hôtel on 24 September 2026 to formally hand over advocacy memorandums calling for adoption of the 'loi Karama,' a bill aimed at protecting women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence. The event brought together representatives of the Justice Ministry, Parliament, the National Observatory for Women's and Girls' Rights (ONDFF), the Nouakchott regional council and the Children's Parliament, according to an official note from organizers. It also drew participation from the Association of Imams of Mauritania, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Vision and Terre des Hommes, alongside various media, the same note said. France 24 separately reported that the memorandum, presented on 24 September, calls for a clear timetable for the bill's adoption, and that the text, though validated by the government, has remained blocked in Parliament for several years.
The mobilization follows the 5 September rape of a seven-year-old girl in the Toujounine district of Nouakchott, which prompted a protest at Place de la Liberté that was dispersed by security forces, and renewed advocacy from women's rights groups, according to RFI. A 2025 report by AMSME recorded 395 rape cases, including 334 girls, 23 boys and 18 girls with disabilities, according to Cridem/L'Authentique, a figure campaigners cite to underscore the scale of the problem. Religious authorities, including imams and oulémas, have objected to parts of the bill as contrary to Islamic precepts, even though they previously helped amend its text — reducing it from 105 to 55 articles in 2023 — before rejecting it outright, according to Jeune Afrique. No parliamentary vote date or government commitment on a timetable has been confirmed as of 28 September.