We all need to be vigilant & report our concerns to halt FGM in the UK
It has emerged, just days before Bedfordshire Police were the first British police force to make use of new powers and issued a protection order to stop two young girls being taken overseas on suspicion that they would be taken abroad for purposes of female genital mutilation (FGM), that a group of fifty schoolgirls were reported to have been taken to Somalia for the same purpose. Prevalence of FGM in Somalia is widespread, and indeed is estimated by UNICEF to affect 98% of women in the country. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Tonge was travelling on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Heathrow to Addis Ababa along with Labour MP Holly Lynch in order to attend a Financial Development conference. Baroness Tonge noticed the large group of girls accompanied by their mothers and some grandmothers on the flight and noted that they transferred onto another plane headed to the Somalian capital Mogadishu. The Baroness and Ms Lynch told the BBC that they were suspicious about the large group of English-speaking girls of Somali origin travelling at the beginning of the summer holidays, traditionally a time of year where young girls are most at risk, and so reported their concerns to Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard have confirmed that police had been called by a “woman concerned about a large number of girls on a flight from Heathrow to Ethiopia on 11 July whom she believed were at risk of FGM”.
It seems that the legislation introduced on July 17th came a few days too late to save these fifty schoolgirls from being taken out of the country. One can only hope that The Baroness’ fears were unfounded and the girls will return from their trip overseas unharmed. Nevertheless, with 20,000 girls under the age of 15 in the UK at risk of FGM each year, Baroness Tonge and Ms Lynch were undoubtedly right to report their concerns. It is crucial that everyone in the community — not only those in positions of authority such as teachers and social workers, be on their guard and report their suspicions, however small, to the authorities. This is a key step in helping save girls from a similar fate as these fifty.
Further advice can also be sought from NSPCC and Childline.
Sources:
BBC News (2015). ‘’Fifty girls’ taken from UK to Somalia for FGM’, BBC News website, published 17.07.2017. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33572428#?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter. Accessed 20.07.2015.
Bedfordshire Police (2015). ‘Bedfordshire Police in first in fight against FGM’, published 17.07.2015. Available at: http://www.safer-beds.org/rmwebportal/replytomesg.aspx?mesg_id=c869d252-8903-4295-9890-5538af1f0f34&email=-1&web=-1%22. Accessed 18.07.2015.
Cameron, J. (2015). ‘We All Need to Be Alert to the Summer Holiday FGM Risk to Children’ The Huffington Post UK, published 12.07.2015. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/john-cameron/summer-fgm-risk-to-children_b_7769398.html. Accessed 20.07.2015.
FORWARD (2007), ‘Over 20,000 Girls Under 15 At High Risk of FGM in England and Wales’ Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development, published 23.10.2007. Available at: http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/over-20000-girls-under-15-at-high-risk-of-fgm-in-england-and-wales/, accessed 20.07.2015.
UNICEF (2014). ‘Regional authority in Somalia introduces an official policy to end FGM/C’. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/somalia/reallives_14437.html. Accessed 20.07.2015.
