Please help me, I don't want to be cut like my sister

An 11 year old girl sent a letter in 2010 to the charity Equality Now, to ask for help to avoid female genital mutilation (FGM).  The charity published the letter in March 2013, to help alert tutors to the importance of reporting suspicions of FGM. Would your tutors know what to do?

There was considerable press coverage about the letter and information about FGM, a form of child abuse which is horribly painful and often profoundly damaging to the girls on whom it is conducted. The EU conducted an investigation and found that the UK has the highest number of affected girls among its member states: 65,000 are estimated to have been mutilated, and a further 30,000 are potential victims.

One important remedy is education. The Lilian Baylis school in Kensington, has run workshops and assemblies about the problem. Deputy Head Elga Stuck said ‘even if you work in a school where there is no FGM I still think you have to raise people’s awareness’.

The facts about female genital mutilation

• Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
• The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women.
• FGM is internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
• An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM. It is mostly carried out on young girls sometimes between infancy and age 15 years.
• In Africa an estimated 92 million girls from 10 years of age and above have undergone FGM.
• Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later potential childbirth complications and newborn deaths.

Efua Dorkenoo, Director of Equality Now’s campaign against FGM, believes tutors and other professionals can allow girls to remain at risk because of a mistaken belief that mutilation is a cultural practice rather than a crime.

All EU member states have laws against FGM, including the UK. The Female Genital Mutilation Act was introduced in 2003 and came into effect in March 2004. The Act makes it illegal to practice FGM in the UK, and makes it illegal to take girls who are British nationals or permanent residents of the UK abroad for FGM whether or not it is lawful in that country. However, prosecutions are extremely rare, often because of difficulties in detecting cases and gathering evidence.

The government has launched new guidelines to support front-line professionals such as teachers to prevent and tackle FGM. The guidelines:

• explains the complex issues around female genital mutilation
• identify the signs that girls and women may be at risk or who are dealing with the consequences of FGM
• set out the actions that professionals should take, often in conjunction with other agencies, to protect girls and women and offer them the support they need

To download the guidelines, click here