WUNRN
22
October 2007
A study published on the 9th of October 2007 by FORWARD, reveals that nearly 66,000 women with FGM are living in England and Wales that over 20,000 girls under 15 could be at risk of FGM in the UK.
Funded by the Department of Health and in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Department of Midwifery, City University, the study reveals that nearly 66,000 women with FGM are living in England and Wales (2001) and that there are nearly 16,000 girls under the age of 15 at high risk
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9
October 2007
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UK:
Thousands Risk Genital Mutilation
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More than 20,000 girls under 15 in England and Wales could
be at risk of genital mutilation, a charity warns. Female circumcision is deeply rooted in many societies Forward, which campaigns against the
practice, says health workers and local officials should do more to stop it. The charity says its estimate of 20,000
girls at risk is conservative because many women are too ashamed or afraid to
talk about their experiences. Female genital mutilation is seen in some
communities as an initiation into adulthood for young girls. Forward founder Efua Dorkenoo said the
government had introduced a law against the practice, as part of its child
protection policies, which had to be applied at local level. "We expect that on the ground at local
authority level, the health professionals and the schools would be alert to
it so they would actually mainstream the prevention into what they do,"
she said. Female genital mutilation is practised in a
number of mainly Muslim African communities, and the tradition can travel
when immigrants settle abroad. The practice is believed to reduce a
woman's desire for sex, and therefore sex outside marriage, and can be
carried out on girls as young as four. The practice has no basis in religion and
the victims can face a lifetime of physical or psychological problems. In some cases the mutilation is carried out here. In others the children are taken to their families' countries in Africa or the Middle East. |
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