Female Genital Mutilation: Britain's Silent Victims
An estimated 24,000 young girls under the age of 15 are at risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK, this figure alone is shocking, however despite FGM being illegal in the UK since 1985, the fact that no one has ever been prosecuted for the crime makes those figures even more shocking. With the figures so high it is deplorable to think that these young girls are suffering in silence in a country that views this barbaric act as child abuse, so why are these ‘cutters’, who Britain views as criminals, allowed to get away with their crimes?
FGM is a practise that involves the removal of external female genitalia or any other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. There are three forms of female genital mutilation: Type one when the clitoris is cut off from the vagina, type 2 when the clitoris and the small labia are cut off and type three where the clitoris, small labia and large labia are all completely cut off and the remaining flesh is pulled together to be stitched up leaving a small hole where the girl is expected to urinate, menstruate and even give birth from.
Many victims of FGM fear that if they avoided the practice they would be excluded from their communities. Other apparent justifications for the practice include family honour, the preservation of virginity, to make the girl ‘clean’ and desirable for marriage or simply to increase sexual pleasure for males. Due to ever growing migration figures, FGM is becoming a more common practice in different ethnic groups within the UK such as Kenyan, Nigerian, Somalia and Sudan who all view the practise as normal and a right of passage in their respective cultures. Professional ‘cutters’, many of whom have no medical training at all, are often invited to the UK by family members who then pay them to perform the ritual on their daughters. As the ‘cutters’ have little to no medical training many young girls are left to live a life in agony and develop many serious health consequences ranging from infections and fertility problems to severe psychological trauma in the form of flashbacks and depression. The loss of femininity, innocence and the fact that the practice is forced are all psychological effects that victims have to endure.
FGM is now seen as a form of child abuse in the UK, which is something FGM victim and anti-FGM campaigner of Daughters Of Eve Nimko Ali , 29, deemed a true breakthrough, speaking to NewStatesmen she said, ‘A watershed moment for us was when the NSPCC got on board and started talking about it in terms of child abuse. Frontline staff who deal with children, like teachers and social workers, have an abundance of this information – they just don’t pass it on. A Metropolitan police officer told me that they have all the resources in place to deal with FGM cases, but no frontline staff are passing on the information they have. Openly recognising FGM as child abuse should change all that.’
Nimko was taken from Britain on what her mother described as a ‘holiday’ to Somalia when she was just seven years old to be cut. Upon her return home she bravely opened up to her teacher and told her about what happened to her during her ‘holiday’, to which her teacher responded, ‘That's nice dear. A bit like a Bar Mitzvah.’ Nimko felt that all hope was lost, until she grew older and was determined to do all in her power to eradicate FGM. 22 years after her affliction, she is now the co-founder and CEO of the anti-FGM charity Daughters of Eve, a charity she set up with two other female genital mutilation victims, Leyla Hussain and Sainab Adbi. Daughters of Eve’s mission is simple, they want to spread awareness about FGM in the UK, put pressure on the government to prosecute offenders and offer girls who feel they are being left in silence a place of compassion and hope as Nimco says, ‘I want to help them all and let them know that they are not alone. Right now, they are victims. Soon, they'll be survivors.'
It is no doubt that FGM is a difficult mission to take on; there are two very opposing sides of the argument. The offenders of FGM view their acts as culturally acceptable with deep tradition roots however victims, campaigners and the British law see it as child abuse, something that is illegal. But with no prosecutions, what is actually being done for these victims to get the justice they deserve? In November 2012 the UK government launched a one-year pilot of the statement opposing FGM. The statement is also known as the ‘Health Report’ and was imitated from Holland and it’s fight to end FGM. The Health Report is a pocket-sized document that states the law and potential criminal penalties that can be used against those allowing FGM to happen. Families who have migrated to Holland and do not want their children to be subjected to FGM use the statement, particularly if they still feel compelled by cultural and social norms when visiting families abroad.
A spokeswomen from the Home Office stated. ‘There is no justification for female genital mutilation. It is child abuse and it is illegal. We are absolutely that the cultural or political sensitivities must not get in the way of preventing and uncovering this terrible form of criminal activity.’ The government’s idea that a document is enough to stop FGM being inflicted on Britain’s young girls clearly will not eliminate the criminal activity any time soon. The solution it seems is to broadcast awareness of a problem that has so much apparent cultural and traditional morality, to educate communities that FGM is a criminal offence and to educate aspiring teachers and medical professionals what signs point to victim.
In a recent survey conducted by myself on FGM two thirds of responders did not know that the practice happens in the UK. A further 93% of responders did not know that no prosecutions against FGM had been made despite being illegal in 1985. Responders of the survey also stated their views on how to get FGM offenders prosecuted such as. ‘People should be made aware of the facts and that this happens in the UK too. Politicians should address that very much and magazines, programmes, documentaries, movies, books (all media) should address that too. And obviously the police should look into these cases but also the victims should bring the offenders to court.’
With such high figures of unawareness to the practice it is clear that Britain’s society and professions who deal with children, such as doctors and teachers, need to be educated about FGM. Zoe Stevens, 21, a graduate of Child Culture and Psychology from the University of Birmingham, who is now studying her PGCE (Post Graduate Child Education) at the university, said that during her degree FGM was something that was taught, ‘I have knowledge of the signals to look for in such cases. A sudden and rapid change in behaviour either way can be a signal for child abuse such as FGM, especially in the ethnicities that practice FGM. If a child displayed such behaviour I could report to those affiliated.’ Zoe also believes there is a lack specific training of signs of FGM, particularly in her PGCE. She says, ‘Child abuse is discussed more in terms of rape and violence. I have not heard of FGM discussed in the Child Protection element of my PGCE training. This is important especially as Britain is becoming more multicultural and working in in multicultural city like Birmingham, I could be placed within a class with over 90% African or Muslim population which is a clear target, cultural area for FGM.’
Across the Channel, however, is a very different story. In France, there have been more than 100 convictions for people who carry out FGM on young French residents. The French authorities have been able to prosecute offenders and ultimately give justice to victims by simply making routine checks in hospitals, this however would be deemed unthinkable to British authorities due to their concerns of ethical issues and human rights. Linda Weil-Curiel, a French lawyer and President of French Commission for the Abolition of Sexual Mutilations speaking to trust.org, stated, "Due to this prevention by doctors and the trials, the number of mutilations has largely decreased. You don't want to hurt the feelings of immigrants or people of foreign origin. But what is more important – these people's feelings or the suffering of the victims? It is the responsibility of society to defend children.’’
In March 2013, the NSPCC published a survey of 1, 000 teachers that concluded one in six did not know female genital mutilation was an illegal practice in Britain, one in six also did not consider FGM as child abuse and a staggering four out of five said they had no received training on how to spot the dangers of the act. Comparing these numbers to the ever-growing conviction rates in France, one cannot help but feel education is the solution to this horrendous problem. With the teaching of FGM to our future and current teachers and medical professions and the inspiring work of Nimco Ali and the Daughters Of Eve, let us hope the 28-year reign of perpetrators slipping through the cracks of the British law receive their comeuppance so Britain’s FGM victims finally get the voice they so very much deserve.
