Help amend the Children Act and end FGM
There is no legal protection for a child who is at risk of undergoing this kind of violence.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the alteration or removal of a girl’s external genitalia, meaning the labia and the clitoris, for non-medical reasons.
This extreme form of violence against women can cause infertility, difficulties urinating, difficulties menstruating and difficulties giving birth. It can also kill.
People think FGM isn’t a British problem but it is. It’s a very British problem.
In England and Wales alone 137,000 women and girls have been reportedly affected by FGM.
We have no research on how many girls are at risk.
And despite FGM being illegal in the UK, there have been no successful convictions.
The Pink Protest has joined forces with anti-FGM activist Nimco Ali to get a bill through parliament to get FGM included in the Children Act.
The Children Act 1989 (amended 2004) provides the legal basis for how social services and other agencies deal with issues relating to children. As of 2019, FGM is not included in this legislation, meaning there is no legal protection for a child who is at risk of undergoing this kind of violence.
In 2018, Baron Michael Berkeley introduced a bill into the House of Lords to have FGM included in the Children Act.
The Bill completed its House of Lords stages on 19 November 2018 and was presented to the House of Commons on 20 November 2018. It will have its second reading in the Housse of Commons on 25 Janaury.
On 1 February MPs are voting on whether or not to amend the Children Act to include FGM. We need this bill to go through.
What you can do:
FGM is a feminist issue and we all need to get behind this bill and make sure that the Children’s Act protects all children.
We need you to speak up.
We need you to sign our petition, ‘Get FGM into the Children’s Act’.
Post on Instagram.
And to write to your MP to demand that FGM be included in the Children’s Act.
Oh yes, and to stop Chope.