Why is the UK failing girls at risk of FGM?
Heather Kennedy
WVoN co-editor
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in the UK for the past 30 years. But to date, not a single person has been charged with the crime.
Approximately 66,000 girls have been mutilated in the UK, and 24,000 girls in England and Wales could be at risk of FGM, say anti-FGM charity FORWARD.
Now, a group of school girls from Bristol have had enough of the UK’s failure to keep girls safe.
In their short film, Silent Scream, they hope to bring the closeted practice of FGM into mainstream debate.
Chief Inspector Dave McCallum who features in the film talks tough about the laws surrounding FGM.
”Anyone involved in FGM, whether they do it themselves, whether they organise for it to happen or assist in it happening, commits a serious crime and is liable to 14 years in prison.”
So why are we failing to protect thousands of girls on British shores?
Muna Hassan, one of the girls behind the film rejects the Government’s softly-softly approach to FGM. Speaking on BBC Newsnight she said:
“The statistics show that MPs are terrified to do anything about FGM. They’re hiding behind cultural stereotypes. What would you do if the girl had blonde hair and blue eyes? Would FGM still be going on in this country?”
FGM is part of a patriarchal tradition which uses violence to control female sexuality. Girls as young as two are told to lie down whilst all or some of their clitoris is cut away with a blade, scissors or a knife.
Victims are then sown up, leaving one tiny hole for blood and urine to pass through. They aren’t unstitched until their wedding day.
Communities that still practice FGM believe it preserves a woman’s cleanliness and banishes the social shame associated with female sexual pleasure.
However, girls who endure the mutilation are left with serious health problems, infertility and a lifetime of agonising and unhappy sex.
Could it be that politicians and authorities are shying away from a frank debate on FGM because they find the issue too grisly and embarrassing to face?
In June, Lambeth Council criticised Lambeth Women’s Project of leaving “sexually explicit material” in view of children. The material in question was a police-sponsored poster warning children about the dangers of FGM (see WVoN story).
FGM has been shrugged off as a dark, arcane practice, rife with cultural sensitivities, operating outside the parameters of normal British society. This perception has allowed Governments, hospitals, schools and other services to duck their responsibility to girls at risk of FGM.
There can be little doubt that politicians and other agencies could be doing more to keep children safe.
Schools and hospitals have been given no guidelines on dealing with FGM, despite the fact that professionals working in them are in a good position to identify girls at risk.
“Somali women don’t know the law in this country. They need information in hospitals when they’re babies are born or when they’re flying on holiday” says a woman speaking anonymously on Silent Scream.
Despite the clear need for clear information and guidance, David Cameron earlier this year decided to axe the anti-FGM Coordination Office.
Force Change has launched a petition, demanding the Government do more to support victims and actively investigate and prosecute suspected cases of FGM.
For girls like Muna Hassan, born and educated in the UK, the time for British authorities to stop burying their heads in the sand is long overdue.
Same reason it fails girls at risk of the UK version of FGM – plastic surgery. All over the world, girls are either forcibly or subtly told that their born with body is not good enough … is unclean, ugly, inferior … and there is not a murmur from society about this constant degridation of young girls esteem. We are herd creatures and when the rest of the herd is either attacking you or telling you that your body is vile, laughable and needs changing … there isn’t an ego in the world strong enough to ignore that warning … that the herd is rejecting you in your own skin.
I believe I was a victim of FGM in 2007 and I have found that the police ae just refusing to investigate the case, which includes giving me an examination. For the last 6 years I have found a wall of silence from everyone I have seeked help from. No one will admit this has happened and no one has been made accountable. With everyone now treating me as if I am mad! it is degrading, humiliating and inhuman, I can not believe this can happen to anyone and be ignored.
Hi Amanda I had the same experience with police and social services in gender violence against me. How about going to hospital to get your self diagnosis confirmed and then see if hospital can help you get the police to press charges, and also go to your local MP and VAGW org to see if they have routes forward that they can help you access justice through. Whatever else, you are not mad and I agree, their attitude is degrading, humiliating and inhuman towards you – but that is their shit, not yours. Big hug.
Hi Vicki, the alarming thing about this is it actually happened in an NHS hospital, while I was undergoing a vulva operation. I believe it was a hate crime against me owing to the fact I upset the consultant by saying about her being a woman, although I was referring to her doing good job cos of having genitals herself, she stormed off and when I looked the next day to see what she had done, instead of having 1 stitch as she said, I had about 50 with parts missing – she had circumsiced me(sorry if it is spelt wrong). after years of being traumatised and facing a wall of silence, I then changed my approach and requested to be shown my “missing parts”, just like your finger they can or should be seen by the naked eye, but once agan I have fallen behind a wall of silence as now, although they ae saying I am mad, everyone including the hospital in Birmingham where it happened is refusing to show me my organ and todate there is not one law in this country that can or will force the hospital to prove this has not happened – so I am in a situation where i can not get support to prove thiings are missing, but no one will state it is still intact and all there. they even refused my MP and the so called FGM networks will only work with those affected outside the NHS. Thank you for your kind words, it is nice that someone out there believes this is going on
Ah, done in an NHS hospital? No one likes to admit what goes on in our Government hospitals and I too have fallen foul of support services where my abuse doesn’t fit into the descriptive that the support services cover. They don’t add to the list, just ask the person to move on … to nothing. I think there is an organisation that deals with serious medical complaints about the NHS … try googling it. It is a legal complaint group, I’ve seen them on the news am sure. Whatever else, I do believe you, having seen the conspiracy of silence that went on between the police, social services and IPCC over gender violence … I really really do believe you. The only thing I can say is to really examine what you are trying to achieve for yourself here … because persuing justice in this country as a woman might blight the rest of your life if you can accept what happened and move on, might be easier on the whole for you. Hate saying that, really hate it, but have found it to be true. Or pick your fights, but be careful of your strength and sanity, because others don’t want you to have either. Take care you!
I wish I could give up fighting this, but they have claimed I am delusional. I am a highly qualified trainer and this label has wrecked my career – 15 years gone just because this country do not want to face up to what is going on. my fight now is to prove I’m not insane. I am sick of fighting, but it seems that they are willing to just let me move on. The police have really stitched me up bad on this issue. I was brought up in a British army environment and I do not see soldiers at war lying down and dying,they fight to the end and that is how I was brought up, I will fight this and prove it one day – I have no choice, I either fight or go under completely. Take care yourself too
If you need to fight this, which I understand completely since it has had such dreadful impact on your professional and personnel integrity and standing within the community, why not take a tip from a sailor. In a hurricane, there are a number of strategies to coming out the other side, some people reduce sail, trail ropes to slow the boat down and stay on deck to actively steer the boat, and some people shut everything down and stay below. But you can do a combination of both to get you through. I wonder if you could get a private examination done to prove the damage. This removes the delusional tag since the damage has been proven to be there. Then go to the organisation that sues the NHS to file a case against the NHS for assault or performing an operation without consent. Once you have that in the bag, then you can tackle any remaining delusional stuff having proved legally that you aren’t.
Sorry, the sailing analogy is to pick your fights and only fight them, resting up in between and staying focussed on only the fights that win you ground. Bit convoluted but got there in the end!!! Big hug, I know how hard you’re fighting to keep yourself centred in this, but you are doing a great job. xx