Female Genital Mutilation
Summer is for Fun…….
Not for Pain
What is FGM?
• All procedures which involve the partial
or total removal of the external genitalia
or injury to the female genital organs
whether for cultural or any other nontherapeutic reasons
The World Health Organisation
Types of FGM
• Type 1 - removal of the clitoral hood with or
without the removal of the clitoris
• Type 2 - removal of the clitoris and partial or
total removal of the vaginal lips
• Type 3 - removal of the clitoris, vaginal lips
and the stitching of the vagina, leaving a 12cm opening
• Type 4 - piercing the clitoris, cauterisation,
cutting the vagina, inserting corrosive
substances
Who is at risk?
• 2 million girls around the world every year
are mutilated
• Mainly African and Middle Eastern countries
and alarmingly now in the immigrant
population of Europe, America and Australia
• It is estimated that as many as 20,000 girls
are at risk of FGM within the UK every year
• Any girl is at risk – usually between 4-14
Female Genital Cutting Areas of Practice - TYPE II
Type II involves the partial or entire removal of the clitoris, as well as the scraping off of the labia majora and labia minora .
Communities at Risk
28 practising countries in Africa
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Djibouti – 98%
Somalia – 97%
Sierra Leone – 90%
Ethiopia - 79.9%
Sudan – 90%
Guinea – 98.6%
In Middle East – Egypt – 97%
How is FGM carried out?
• Varies from community to community but
generally by an elder woman in the
community using non-sterile, blunt
instruments without anaesthetic
• UK girls are taken on “holiday” to become a
woman
• Communities in the UK are believed to have
their own practitioners here
• Some doctors will do this under anaesthetic
Why is FGM carried out?
• Religion is NOT a basis for FGM
• Cultural identity – A tribal initiation into
adulthood
• Gender Identity – Moving from girl to woman
– enhancing femininity
• Sexual control – believed to reduce the
woman’s desire for sex and therefore the
possibility of sex outside marriage
• Hygiene/cleanliness – unmutilated women are
regarded as unclean and not allowed to
handle food or water
Health Consequences
Short term
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Haemorrhage
Severe pain & shock
Urine retention
Infection including tetanus & HIV
Injury to adjacent tissue
Fracture or dislocation to limbs as a
result of restraint
Health Consequences
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Long-Term
Difficulty with passing urine & chronic urinary
tract infections which can lead to renal
problems or renal failure
Difficulties with menstruation
Acute & chronic pelvic infections which can
lead to infertility
Sexual dysfunction/Psychological/Flashbacks
Complications during pregnancy
Chronic scar formations
Human Rights
• “Female Genital Mutilation is a fundamental
human rights issue with adverse health and
social implications… (it) violates the rights of
girls and women to bodily integrity and
results in perpetuating gender inequality”
•
UK All Parliamentary Group on Population Development and
Reproductive Health (2000)
Female Genital Mutilation Act
2003
• Offence to commit FGM
• Offence to aid, abet, counsel or procure
a girl to commit FGM
• Offence for someone in the UK to aid,
abet, counsel or procure FGM outside of
UK that is carried out by a person who
isn’t a UK national or resident
• Any act done outside UK by UK National
or resident
Indications that FGM may be
about to take place…..
• The family come from a community that is
known to practise FGM
• Parents state they will take the child out of
the country for a prolonged period
• A child may talk about a long holiday to a
country where the practice is prevalent
• A child may confide that she is to have a
“special procedure” or celebration
Indications that FGM may
have already taken place…..
• A child may spend long periods of time
away from the classroom during the
day with bladder or menstrual problems
• Prolonged absences from School plus a
noticeable behaviour change
• The child requiring to be excused from
physical exercise without the support of
their GP
What do I do?
• You must inform your designated child
protection Advisor
• They must make a referral to the Local
Authority Children’s Social Care
Female Genital Mutilation
• Summer is for Fun……Not for Pain
• The school summer holidays are a time
when it is known that girls are taken
out of the country to undergo FGM
• Report any concerns. Child protection
is everyone’s responsibility
• FGM is a serious crime and can be fatal
Female Genital Mutilation
CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION COMMAND
Project AZURE
Information Line: 020 7161 2888
scd5mailbox-azure@met.police.uk