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13 Nisan 2017 Perşembe

Michigan doctor charged with carrying out female genital mutilation

A doctor in Michigan has been charged with carrying out female genital mutilation on young girls, in what is thought to be the first prosecution of its kind in the US.

Jumana Nagarwala, an emergency room physician in Detroit, is accused of performing the procedure on girls aged between six and eight and then lying to investigators when confronted.

Nagarwala, 44, faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted of all the charges against her. She was scheduled to appear in federal court in Detroit on Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors alleged in a complaint filed to court that Nagarwala had been carrying out female genital mutilation procedures for the past 12 years from a medical office in the Detroit suburb of Livonia.

24 Şubat 2017 Cuma

Call the Midwife tackles female genital mutilation in latest storyline

This Sunday’s episode of Call The Midwife (BBC1 8pm) will chart new territory as the sisters of Nonnatus House tackle female genital mutilation in 1960’s Poplar.

The BBC One drama will take a sympathetic look at the plight of Nadifa, a mother-to-be from Somaliland, who has undergone the procedure and is struggling with the after-effects.

Heidi Thomas, creator and writer of the series, told Woman’s Hour she had wanted for some time to explore the issue: “I have been interested in FGM for some time and it did seem to me that if we waited until 1962, the Somali community were beginning to settle and establish a foothold in the East End.”

An estimated 200 million girls have undergone FGM worldwide. The procedure involves the partial or total removal of the female genitals for non-medical reasons. UK hospitals now treat one FGM survivor every hour.

Call the Midwife — In 1962, the Somali community were beginning to settle and establish a foothold in the East End. Photograph: BBC/Neal Street Productions

26 Ocak 2017 Perşembe

Genital Herpes Prevention You Need To Know

Herpes viruses are infectious agents spread by contact. Common cold and flu viruses, which are airborne in tiny droplets, can be contracted by simply breathing the contaminated air from others; no direct contact is needed at all. Herpes, however, must be contracted from another individual. Direct contact must be made. Break the chain of direct contact, and herpes would cease to be an epidemic.

Facial herpes, the most common variety, is usually transmitted by kissing while a sore is present on the lips, mouth, or face. Genital herpes is also spread by direct contact, usually during sex. The soft skin and mucous membranes of the genital area are permeable enough to allow entry of the herpes virus. In less delicate areas, the virus needs a break in the skin or an orifice in order to gain entry to the body.

Herpes also must be contracted during a time other than the latent period. During active periods there is usually enough virus present on the surface of the body to infect someone if he comes in contact with it. Fortunately, the area of infection is usually fairly well localized, so that prevention can be effected as long as some caution is exercise Remember that not everyone who comes into contact wit the virus will become infected with the disease. Other factor come into play. One of the variables is the amount of virus that enters the body through the mucous membranes or break in the skin. Whether or not the person has any degree of immunity to the virus is another variable. The overall stat of health and resistance to any kind of infection is ye another.

WHEN ARE YOU INFECTIOUS?

Prodromes vary from person to person, as does the ability to detect the prodromal signs. Knowing your prodromal signs is important. The minute you experience the tingling, itching, or whatever sign you have grown to know, you must, from that moment, consider yourself contagious. These warning signs indicate that there is probably viral activity near the surface of the skin. Most likely you will have evidence of sores a short time later.

During prodromal periods triggering activities should be avoided. Sex should be avoided because of possible contagion. Friction of sex or masturbation may precipitate a recurrence that the body may otherwise successfully fight off. It is not unusual for a patient to report breaking out in sores the day after making love during a prodromal period.

Once any sign appears on the skin, you must assume herpes virus is present. The fluid in blisters is high in concentrations of virus. Once the lesions begin to heal and scab over, viruses are still present. You should assume contagion and avoid triggering aggravation until the skin is completely healed.

Some people seem to feel that anyone with herpes should limit sexual involvement to others with the disease. This belief is probably fed by the myth that two people with herpes do not have to worry about cross infection. The truth is that they have to be just as careful as others about physical contact during an episode, because they may have different strains of the virus.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Avoiding autoinnoculation and the inoculation of others is important. It is not easy to leave the sores alone. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we have touched them. Here are some tips to help you in preventing the spread of the virus:

• Don’t poke or probe the sores.
• Don’t lick a sore on your lip.
• Don’t touch sores on the genitals while urinating.
• Don’t use saliva as a wetting agent for your contact lenses.
• Don’t use a lip balm on the sore and then apply it to the uninfected part of the lip. Don’t play with facial hair such as a moustache or beard while you have a sore on the face.
• Don’t smoke cigarettes in such a way as to contact the sore.
• Don’t have oral sex when either partner has an active sore on the genitals or the face. Don’t rest your chin on your hand while relaxing.
• DO wash your hands first thing upon waking in the morning. You may have touched the sores during the night. Above all, wash your hands before rubbing your eyes!
• D0 wash your hands before inserting contact lenses, even when using proper wetting solution.
• DO use common sense. The important thing to remember is the virus is transferable to other parts of your body as well as to other people. The second you inadvertently touch the sore, thoroughly wash your hands.

Know your partner. This will help greatly in the prevention of herpes. That extra measure of caution and patience may pay off with a tremendous dividend of health. If you are with a new partner and not completely confident, use a condom or insist that your partner use one.

Condoms. A condom may be of some help in protecting I male against the shedding of virus from an asymptomatic female. It will provide protection only for the area covered. If there are lesions that cannot be protected, the condom will be of little use. If a woman has lesions that can contact areas not protected by the condom, the same rule applies. You should not have sex during the prodrome or while sores are present, but if you must, you should be aware that applying and removing a condom may aggravate the area and cause the virus to spread or trigger a prodrome into becoming an active episode that may otherwise have been avoided.

If you have herpes you should consider a condom nothing more than a birth control device. With the start of the prodrome until the lesions heal completely, the only sure preventive measure is no intercourse and no direct contact.

INFECTION FROM ASYMPTOMATIC PARTNERS

The question frequently comes up as to whether or not it is possible to contract herpes from a partner who has no symptoms. There are people who have no symptoms or experience such a mild initial attack that it goes unnoticed. Subclinical infections may be quite common and there is no way of telling if clinical recurrences will occur. It is possible for transmission to take place even when there are no obvious symptoms. It is impossible to say to what degree asymptomatic shedding of virus is responsible for transmission of herpes, since it is unknown how much virus is required to cause the disease. Sexually active people with multiple partners should be screened periodically for any STD problems which might otherwise go undetected until more serious symptoms become evident.

Sources:

– http://astrobiosociety.org/assessing-effectiveness-herpes-treatments/

– http://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/STDFact-Herpes-detailed.htm

– http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/health/research/21herpes.html

– https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-herpes-re-rears-its-ugly-head

– http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/203222

– https://books.google.com/books?id=PoRB5qQXW70C&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q&f=false

Genital Herpes Prevention You Need To Know

6 Ekim 2016 Perşembe

More young girls asking GPs about genital cosmetic surgery, study finds

A world-first study has found that girls as young as 15 are asking their GPs about genital cosmetic surgery, and are increasingly concerned that their genitals don’t look “normal”.

Lead author of the study, Dr Magdalena Simonis from the University of Melbourne’s department of general practice, said she was compelled to conduct the survey after her own patients began asking about labiaplasty, a surgical procedure that removes tissue from the labia.

“I felt underprepared to respond to those requests,” she said.

“When I spoke to colleagues who were also working in areas of women’s health, they also expressed the same sort of experiences with women questioning whether their genitals looked normal. Many of them volunteered that that 20 or 25 years ago, this was never an issue.”

Simonis said she believes fashion, online pornography, perceptions of beauty, as well as Brazilian waxes were playing a major role in women’s dissatisfaction with and concern about their genitals.

While some women experience medical issues related to their labia and require a labiaplasty, more than 1,500 labiaplasties were performed in Australia in 2013, representing a threefold increase in the procedure over the previous decade despite there being no increase in genital abnormalities.

Over a 10-week period last year, Simonis and her research team conducted interviews with 443 Australian GPs and asked them 31 questions about their patients and requests for female genital cosmetic surgery. Most were GPs who specialised in women’s health.

Of the respondents, 54% had seen female patients requesting genital cosmetic surgery. Overall, 75% of GPs rated their knowledge of the surgery as inadequate and 97% said they had been asked by women of all ages about genital normality.

More than half the GPs suspected psychological disturbances in their patients requesting the surgery such as depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties and body dysmorphic disorder.

Surgery could sometimes lead to complications such as ongoing pain and could also affect sexual response, “because the clitoris is not just a ‘pea’ as described in textbooks, but is a larger organ, most of it not visible to the eye”, Simonis said.

“When we talk about adult women into their 20s of course they are entitled to make their own decisions about their body and surgery, provided they are well informed and have good information and don’t have any mental health disorders that might be affecting their decision,” Simonis said.

“But the really vulnerable here are young women and teens impressed by what they see online and what a lot of the portrayals are like in pornography. I think we need to be carefully looking at those women and ensuring they are supported and better informed.”

Simonis was an author of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners clinicians’ guide on female genital cosmetic surgery, the first guide for Australian GPs and other health professionals, published last year. She said while this was helping GPs to navigate questions and concerns about female genitals, cosmetic surgeons also had a role to play.

Surgery for mental health issues is not a appropriate therapy

Dr Magdalena Simonis

“They are simply building a business around demand,” she said.

“The question is, why is there demand? It behoves them to look more closely at the psychological background of women and girls and make sure they are well screened for mental health issues, because surgery for mental health issues is not a appropriate therapy.”

The study was published in the British Medical Journal and was the first large survey to explore GP experience of female genital cosmetic surgery.

More young girls asking GPs about genital cosmetic surgery, study finds

28 Temmuz 2016 Perşembe

What Are the Best Home remedies for Genital Warts?

Genital warts are soft growths on the skin around the genital area that tend to be very painful. According to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, genital warts are usually caused by the HPV virus. The best defense against this virus is usually a vaccine. The presence of the warts is worse for men that women since it may signify the probability of there being cervical cancer in the former gender. In case you haven’t gotten the vaccine and are unfortunate to get attacked by genital warts, here are the best ways that you can remedy the condition. Information on the management of genital warts, this isn’t the whole list of home remedy ideas, there are still a few others you can try out for added measure

6 Ways to Rid Yourself of Genital Warts

Witch Hazel

Witch hazel is a good homemade astringent that proves beneficial in the battle against genital warts since it helps to dry them up. Soak some cotton balls in witch hazel then gently dab them over genital warts. Leave the witch hazel on warts for about ten minutes then clean them off with some dry cotton balls. Repeat this twice daily till the warts are gone.

Onions

Onions have some anti-microbial characteristics that enable them fend off the HPV virus and eliminate some of genital warts. It is also a safe home remedy since it has no die effects. Expose the fleshy part of the onion then cut it up into some rings. Lay them over warts and cover them with medical gauze or duct tape. Change this every few hours for about half the day. You can also add some salt to the onion slices, leave them overnight then blend them into a paste in the morning. Apply thus paste on warts and cover them overnight. This is a daily procedure.

Apple Cider Vinegar

The advantage of using ACV for genital warts is the presence of the acetic acid in the solution. This helps to ‘burn’ away warts, reducing the irritation and inflammation. Soak some cotton balls in ACV and dab them over warts. You can also put them on warts and fasten them in place with some gauze or duct tape. They can be left there for the whole day or night before removal. ACV is also very beneficial to acne prone skin.

Pineapple Juice

Applying some fresh pineapple juice on warts works wonders. This is because the enzymes in the pineapples break down warts and eliminate them completely. Drinking some of the juice also helps to purify the blood. The juice also has manganese which helps the skin to repair itself after warts have been removed, essentially stopping the formation of scars.

Castor Oil

Ricinoleic acid is highly concentrated in castor oil, making it quite an effective home remedy for not only genital warts but also moles. It best serves as a remedy in the cases where the conditions include the aspect of inflammation. Castor oil helps to dissolve the swelling and essentially reduce genital warts to nothingness. Application of the castor oil to genital warts can be done in a number of ways, with the first being the topical application of the oil using cotton balls soaked in it. You can also make a paste from some garlic then add some castor oil to it then apply it over genital warts.

Baking Soda

Baking soda helps to treat a number of skin conditions like acne and genital warts. It exfoliates the skin removing any debris and swellings. It also acts as a mild antiseptic, ridding the skin of some of the HPV viruses that collect on it making the genital warts worse. Make a paste by mixing some water and baking soda. Apply the paste over the genital warts ensuring that you completely cover them. Cover warts with some medical gauze or duct tape. Leave this on the skin for the whole night then remove it in the morning. Gently wash off the remaining baking soda solution with warm water and allow the skin to dry. This is a daily remedy that should eliminate genital warts in no time.

Conclusion

The above remedy ideas may help to fight off genital warts. It is, however, good to now that they do not eradicate the HPV virus from your bloodstream. For this, it is best to see a doctor and get professional medical help.

References:

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~gbc/health/altmed04.htm

http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/handouts/warts.html

http://treatment.hpathy.com/homeo-medicine/homeopathy-warts/

What Are the Best Home remedies for Genital Warts?

22 Temmuz 2014 Salı

US to conduct major study into female genital mutilation

The Obama administration is to carry out a major study into female genital mutilation, in an effort to establish how many women are living with the consequences of FGM in the United States and how many girls are at risk.

The previous study was carried out in 1997 ,and new research is a central demand of a Guardian-backed campaign, led by Jaha Dukureh, which aims to put an end to the practice. Experts say that FGM, which involves the removal of a girl’s outer sexual organs and is often carried out without anaesthetic, often takes place during the summer holidays when American girls are taken out of the country for the purpose. A prevalence study is seen by campaigners as a vital first step in tackling FGM in the US.

Cathy Russell, the US ambassador for global women’s issues, confirmed that the study would be carried out by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Speaking to the Guardian at a major summit on FGM and child marriage in London, Russell praised the event for highlighting the issue. “This summit is important because it brings together government, civil society and activists who care and have been working on this issue,” she said.

FGM is carried out in 29 countries, and Unicef has estimated that more than 130 million women are living with the consequences, which include heavy bleeding, infections, infertility and death during childbirth. At least 228,000 American women and girls in the US are at risk of the practice, according to previous research from the African Women’s Health Center of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, but the true number is thought to be much higher.

Young American women who were cut as girls and teenagers on trips back to their parents’ countries, a practice known as “vacation cutting”, told the Guardian that they had been left scarred physically and emotionally. Lesha, a 21-year-old from a southern state, said she and her sister were sent to Guinea when they were 11 and nine respectively. “I went to Africa to learn about my identity just to end up being scarred for life,” she said.

It also emerged that the Obama administration has set up a preliminary working group on FGM, as the first step to measuring the extent of the problem in the US and deciding how to tackle it. Russell said there had been an “initial meeting”‘, adding that the group would likely meet again to discuss developments at the London summit. “We’ve been engaged on this issue for a long time, and now we are trying it get a sense of where we stand”, she said.

It is understood the working group will look at how to fight FGM through education, and will also look at how to tackle “vacation cutting”.

Dukureh, whose petition calling for the new study on change.org has attracted more than 230,000 signatures, said the US had an opportunity to push for change in its own country and inspire change around the world.

“I’m so excited because this is exactly what we asked for,” she said. “It is a great success not just for me but for everyone who has fought for this. But it doesn’t stop here, we are not going away. This is a first step in ending FGM in the States, and where the US leads others might follow.”

Shelby Quast, policy advisor at Equality Now, which is working on the campaign, said the development was proof that people could make a difference.

“Civil society and survivors have raised their voices and the government has responded to that, she said. “This interagency meeting is a call from the president – it means he is bringing people together to talk about this issue. Now the Obama administration must ensure they get input from survivors like Jaha.”

US to conduct major study into female genital mutilation

US to perform key review into female genital mutilation

It is understood the working group will look at how to fight FGM through education, and will also look at how to tackle “vacation cutting”.

Shelby Quast, policy advisor at Equality Now, which is working on the campaign, said the development was proof that people could make a difference.

US to perform key review into female genital mutilation

21 Temmuz 2014 Pazartesi

Parents who permit female genital mutilation will be prosecuted

Mothers and fathers will be prosecuted if they fail to stop their daughter being reduce, and all victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) will get lifelong anonymity, David Cameron will say on Tuesday.

As the prime minister hosts a Lady Summit with Unicef aimed at mobilising domestic and global efforts to end FGM and little one marriage, new measures will be announced aimed at ending the practices “after and for all”.

The announcement comes the day following it emerged that the variety of girls living in England and Wales who have been subjected to FGM is twice as substantial as previously imagined. A new research reveals more than 137,000 girls in England and Wales are residing with the consequences of FGM. The variety has substantially improved in the previous ten many years as ladies flee war-torn countries to discover security in Britain, in accordance to the report from City University and the human rights group Equality Now.

To mark the initial Girl Summit in the Uk, the prime minister will announce a modify to the law that will make it parents’ accountability to defend their daughters from FGM or encounter punishment. Presently it is towards the law to cut a child in Britain or take a kid out of the country for the purposes of FGM, but this new law will extend sanctions.

Cameron will also launch a £1.4m “avert programme” to help stop the practice currently being carried out on women and to care for survivors, and he is expected to unveil new police guidance on how to manage new instances, and a consultation on civil orders to safeguard these at chance of FGM.

A new professional FGM services, which will incorporate social providers, will recognize those at danger of currently being lower. Cameron will say: “All ladies have the right to reside free of charge from violence and coercion, with out currently being forced into marriage, or the lifelong bodily and psychological effects of female genital mutilation. Abhorrent practices like these, no matter how deeply rooted in societies, violate the rights of women and girls across the world, like here in the Uk.”

The new examine reveals that in England and Wales about 103,000 migrant females aged 15 to 49, ten,000 girls underneath 15 and about 24,000 women aged 50 or above had been subjected to FGM. The numbers of ladies from the Horn of Africa – exactly where the most severe form of FGM is widespread – had increased by 32,000, although the number of ladies from east and west Africa also improved by ten,000 above the past decade.

A 2007 report making use of 2001 census data stated that 66,000 females and girls had been subjected to FGM in England and Wales with an estimated 24,000 ladies below 15 at danger. Until finally now the most latest research, funded by the Believe in for London and the House Office, does not estimate the number of at-chance women, but reveals 60,000 girls under 15 had been born in England and Wales to mothers who had undergone FGM among 2001-eleven.

Earlier this yr, the then schooling secretary, Michael Gove, agreed to publish to headteachers about the dangers of FGM soon after 250,000 individuals joined a campaign backed by the Guardian and alter.org in the runup to the summer holidays when numerous girls are sent away to be reduce.

Efua Dorkenoo of Equality Now mentioned the government had manufactured positive actions but specialists essential clear guidance to identify at-danger ladies and give them assist. “The government demands to get a take care of over this excessive abuse of the most vulnerable girls in our society by implementing a robust nationwide strategy to deal with the issue,” she mentioned.

“There is no time to waste on platitudes as 1000′s of women residing in England and Wales are having their existence blighted by this damaging practice.”

The World Overall health Organisation estimates that up to 140 million ladies and females have been subjected to FGM, a cultural practice developed to curb female sexuality that requires the partial or total removal of the outer sexual organs and can lead to lifelong bodily and psychological problems.

The report states: “A widespread-held belief in FGM-practising communities is that ladies and females who have not undergone FGM have an insatiable sexual appetite, which has to be restrained to avoid bringing dishonour and shame to families.”

Measures to defend girls from FGM in the Uk have also been announced by police and Border Force agents, who are stepping up operations as the school summer holidays get started.

New Border Force youngster protection squads are joining with police to target particular flights in a bid to avoid vulnerable girls being taken out of the nation for FGM. The beefed-up teams at key airports and border crossings in the Uk are on alert for the start of the summer season holidays, when professionals say ladies are at the highest risk of becoming taken out of the country.

Specially qualified Border Force agents will be functioning with police forces, which are also set to acquire new advice stating that officers should place aside cultural sensitivities and fears of getting branded racist in purchase to pursue investigations into FGM. In the very first nationwide guidance issued to all police across the nation, the University of Policing warns officers not to let fears of getting branded a racist end them investigating FGM.

As the summer time holidays commence, an 80-robust crew of specialist officers at Heathrow, 65 at Gatwick and 21 at Manchester will be on the lookout for at-danger young children. The port of Harwich also has a new staff, although expert FGM training is also planned at Birmingham, London City, Stansted, Calais and Dunkirk.

Doing work with police intelligence, particular flights to nations which practise FGM – which includes Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Dubai, Egypt and Turkey – will be targeted, stated Ingrid Smith, assistant director of the Border Force at Gatwick. “The message we are sending with this intensification of operations is that the practice of FGM will not be tolerated in this country,” she stated. ” Police, Border Force agents and social companies will act together to end this and folks trying to take young children out of the country will be caught.”

James Brokenshire, the immigration and security minister, explained border police had been effectively-positioned to collect intelligence on attainable perpetrators and avert FGM from becoming carried out.

“The school summer holidays are a time of specific threat for numerous girls,” he said. “Which is why we have teams of specially qualified officers at significant airports with the skills to recognize and safeguard likely victims and stop the perpetrators.”

The advice drawn up by the University of Policing is the 1st to deal with female genital mutilation and reflects developing public and political concern more than the mutilation and the lack of prosecutions of folks in the United kingdom.

Officers in England and Wales will be informed that when investigating the mutilation of young women in the Uk they must think about all little one protection measures, including removing a lady from her family if they believe she is at danger of FGM.

Below part 46 of the Children Act 1989 police officers can make a decision to remove a youngster who they think is at chance of “important harm” to a area of security for up to 72 hours. They can also apply to a court for an emergency safety buy when they think a youngster is in imminent danger.

Officers will also be advised that they must consider removal of younger sisters in a family in which there are issues that an older girl is at chance of FGM, due to the fact the younger siblings will also want protection.

Chief Constable Alex Marshall, chief executive of the College of Policing, stated: “We want to make sure that officers have the very best details feasible to aid them to shield the vulnerable and tackle this horrible crime. We should not allow perceptions of cultural sensitivities get in the way of action towards female genital mutilation.

“This guidance will help develop our comprehending and confidence in policing this crime so that we’re better ready to react to victims’ needs and ultimately carry perpetrators to justice.”

It warns officers not to be place off pursuing investigations because of the “cultural sensitivities” concerned. “Female genital mutilation is the deliberate cutting of the female genitalia. It is unlawful, very unpleasant and a kind of violence towards women and ladies … Officers must not stay away from tackling FGM for concern of performing or saying the wrong point or becoming regarded racist.”

Female genital mutilation has been unlawful in the United kingdom since 1985, and the law was tightened in 2003 to make it an offence for a British resident to travel abroad in buy to have FGM carried out on a little one. Stress has been increasing on police and prosecutors in excess of the failure – until earlier this yr – to carry a single case to the British courts. Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, announced the initial ever charge relating to FGM earlier this year but the case has yet to go through the courts.

Parents who permit female genital mutilation will be prosecuted

20 Temmuz 2014 Pazar

Teachers to be qualified to aid women at chance of female genital mutilation

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg will set out a string of measures to try out to cease female genital mutilation. Photograph: Derek Peters/Demotix/Corbis

Teachers, medical professionals and social workers will be given extra coaching to identify and help ladies who may well be at threat of becoming victims of female genital mutilation (FGM).

The measures will see new guidance for professionals grow to be part of compulsory instruction in public sector organisations.

The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, will set out a package deal of measures to tackle FGM at a summit on Tuesday.

The prepare will involve supporting a tiny network of “community champions” to motivate volunteers who want to supply assist in places affected by FGM.

Clegg will inform the Woman Summit: “Female genital mutilation is one particular of the oldest and the most severe approaches in which societies have sought to handle the lives and bodies of generations of youthful ladies and girls.

“We’re presently failing 1000′s of ladies and have to act now to assist place a end to FGM.

“Central to tackling it are the doctors, nurses, teachers and legal specialists who require to be outfitted to recognize and assistance younger women and ladies at risk of FGM.

“They agree that, with out the proper understanding, expertise and experience, individuals come to feel like they never have the cultural understanding and authority to even talk about this practice honestly, never ever thoughts intervene when they are concerned an individual is vulnerable.

He will say the United kingdom government will be introducing new instruction and advice for frontline public sector employees to assist recognise the indications of FGM abuse and prevent a lot more women and women acquiring lower.

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal University of Nursing (RCN), explained: “Controlling the lives and bodies of young women and ladies via FGM has no spot in contemporary Britain and the government’s function to put a cease to it is to be commended.

“Nurses have a important position to play in ending this practice that impacts the lives of thousands in the Uk and past.

Louise Silverton, director for midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, stated: “These are positive methods and ones that will contribute to stopping this terrible practice.

“Nonetheless, all these items have to be backed up with resources and dedication across public services, such as making certain personnel have entry to the necessary training.

“Midwives are one particular of the essential frontline healthcare professions in detecting and assisting to avoid female genital mutilation. As this kind of, we need to make sure that they have time and assets to be capable to do this efficiently.”

Teachers to be qualified to aid women at chance of female genital mutilation

2 Temmuz 2014 Çarşamba

Calling for an end to female genital mutilation

The video opens with a single red rose in complete bloom. It is stunning, excellent, bursting with existence. All of a sudden, a pair of scissors opens broad the deep V-shape of the steel blades surrounds the crimson petals. In 1 swift slice, the rose is destroyed.

It is a searing picture to launch Plan UK’s Simply because I am a Lady campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM). It’s also 1 the charity agonised above, simply because the situation of FGM and how it is depicted and addressed is fraught with trouble for all those battling to end the practice. But a determination to challenge this hidden and brutal abuse of girls and women is developing a momentum that now can not be stopped.

Opening the roundtable discussion, Program Uk chief executive Tanya Barron welcomed the tenacious perform becoming carried out by many companies. “We encounter a wonderful chance,” she stated. “FGM is on the agenda as in no way ahead of.”

The starting level, she continued, is to define FGM squarely as a fundamental violation of girls’ and women’s human rights. To end FGM, she mentioned, “we feel we have to foster a common frame of mind of ending violence towards girls and women”.

Lynne Featherstone MP from the Division for Global Improvement (DfID) agreed, saying that she noticed FGM as “one of the most excessive manifestations of gender inequality”. Occasions this kind of as the Woman Summit in July, she explained, will assistance an Africa-led motion to abolish FGM. “It will be a enormous occasion and it’s going to bring together neighborhood leaders, faith groups, the public sector and the private sector. There will be actual commitments that folks will have to consider forwards.”

Chair Alexandra Topping asked if there was a danger that the large-profile of FGM in the Uk and other European countries could be noticed as oppressive by African governments – and, without a doubt, regional communities.

It’s an attitude that Madina Bocoum Daff, FGM programme manager for Strategy Mali, says she has previously encountered in villages. “But it is essential to us that individuals realize this is a global movement, like vaccination of youngsters is a worldwide movement,” she explained. “It truly is really crucial for us to realise that if we can not get rid of FGM in Mali, then you can not in Europe. We also want men and women right here [in the Uk] to know it is not just a battle that you’re fighting – we’re fighting it in Mali, as well.”

Making certain that African governments legislate towards FGM is vital, explained Kenyan former MP Dr Linah Jebii Kilimo, chair of her country’s Anti-FGM Board: “I desired a legal device so that NGOs could go and say: ‘You are breaking the laws of your land and we will train you in how not to.’”

Social persecution

Driven by her own misery as a teenager, when Kilimo was stigmatised for not possessing been “lower” in a neighborhood the place FGM was rife, she championed the introduction of an anti-FGM law by Kenya’s parliament in 2011. To attain delicate targets, she advised, campaigners have to operate to recognize the priorities of the people whose influence they seek.

“We worked by co-opting male members of parliament,” she recalled. “We took them out of Nairobi, which they liked, for workshops. We showed them films [of FGM becoming performed], because I wanted them to see the monster that FGM is. The minister for young children collapsed. By the end, the guys have been saying: ‘Bring the bill, we need to criminalise it.’”

Do men want to be far more vocal in help of anti-FGM messages?

“Yes” came the resounding response from campaigner Khalid Roy, who is married to a Sudanese lady and has “heard the screams of nieces”. Given that Muslim scholars stay “the only international caucus calling for its perpetuation”, he mentioned it stays extraordinarily difficult to adjust the orthodoxy within Islam. This, in flip, influences Muslim communities which, encouraged by their religious leaders, struggle to grasp why FGM should cease.

Criminalisation might clarify the secular frame of mind in direction of FGM, but it was pointed out that it has been unlawful in the United kingdom for almost 3 decades and but only this 12 months has there been a single – extremely controversial – prosecution.

Waiting for women to disclose, in hindsight, was never ever going to perform, said former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer QC. “Proactive policing, employing techniques employed to investigate other crimes” is far a lot more very likely to be productive than waiting for a terrified girl to store her loved ones and get herself taken into care.

More situations are now being passed to the Crown Prosecution Support – 4 in 2013, and eleven so far this 12 months. But while trials are symbolically powerful, he warned, they can only ever be “portion of the response”.

Prosecution holds its own troubles, observed Dr Ash Chand, the NSPCC’s head of approach and advancement, minority ethnic kids. “We know that females can be the victims and be the perpetrators as well, in terms of becoming coerced into undertaking what they do.” He questioned how sophisticated any legislation will be in defending mothers who are unable to resist the demands of their culture to mutilate their daughters. “There is a chance that we end up prosecuting victims.”

Starmer’s response was robust. Even though there is no defence of coercion in United kingdom law, varying the severity of fees is a achievable resolution “when you have a real victim caught within the crime”, he stated.

Could media coverage of FGM and the catastrophic damage it triggers lead to the conversation currently being overtaken by western voices? Trish Halpin, editor-in-chief at Marie Claire, which ran its very first FGM characteristic in 1990, mentioned it was essential to get in diverse perspectives. “It really is now a lot far more of a widespread dialogue across all media,” she said. “Which is also to do with social media and the fourth wave of feminism, with young women engaging with feminism and wanting to eradicate inequality.”

Some progress has been made on prevention but far more is left to do. It’s nonetheless a unusual event for a lady to stroll into a police station, but disclosures in the Metropolitan location have risen from 26 in 2012 to a projection of far more than 100 this yr. Given that FGM is irreversible, Detective Superintendent Jason Ashwood, head of the Met’s FGM crew, explained he noticed his officers’ main role as safeguarding.

Safeguarding vulnerable women requires powerful partnership doing work, he emphasised. “We need to get the complete of the public sector technique really mindful, so that they report, and make certain they’re steady in the way that danger assessments are made so that police are conscious,” he explained. The authorities are then in a position, for illustration, to avert a household from travelling to have their daughter minimize abroad.

Schools are also currently being asked to get on greater duty for safeguarding. But school leaders, explained Nicola Walters, headteacher at Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy in Birmingham, need to have support “from essential individuals who can entry these communities”. This is the only way schools can play their component in teaching women about their sexual health and human rights. Without having influential neighborhood support, parents can – and do – withdraw their daughters from class.

Effective safeguarding also demands knowing of why FGM occurs, said Efua Dorkenoo, programme director for the Finish FGM/C Social Alter Campaign at Alternatives Consultancy Providers.

“The act itself is at the core of the control of female sexuality – and it’s because of the handle dimension there is usually going to be resistance,” she said. That resistance implies, she believes, that only a whole-program strategy to prevention driven by government companies will operate.

“What are we undertaking with daughters delivered in hospital? These girls want particular pathways,” she insisted. “They require to be followed and monitored till they are out of danger. We want early identification, and to get social care to the table, due to the fact they are not at the table.”

The criticism of social care and overall health specialists was underscored by a variety of participants. FGM public health specialist Dr Comfort Momoh, who has established the African Effectively Female clinic at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in south London, is also annoyed that she has not observed more urgency from government departments in the Uk. “I have been fighting and operating with the Division of Well being to have a roundtable for health and social services, and this has not took place – if we’re saying it really is kid abuse, we need to have a great technique, so everyone will know what to do.”

In spite of substantial latest publicity, ignorance of FGM remains across the social operate, police and overall health professions, mentioned ACCM United kingdom director Sarah McCulloch, “which fear that if they inquire inquiries they will be labelled as racist”. Teachers as well, the only pros who have everyday speak to with vulnerable girls, could have no comprehending of FGM, observed university student Muna Hassan from charity Integrate Bristol. “Last 12 months a teacher in my school who was educating A-degree overall health and social care didn’t know what FGM is. That’s somebody accountable for potential social workers and nurses. There requirements to be statutory training for frontline employees.”

No matter the enduring difficulty of tackling FGM, nevertheless, the room resonated with optimism. “Inside of our lifetime” was a phrase heard repeatedly during the morning. “Our generation has been sacrificed, but we can change this,” concluded Prepare Mali’s Daff.

Check out program-united kingdom.org/since-i-am-a-girl/fgm-rose to uncover out much more

FGM: the facts

• Female genital mutilation (FGM)is the practice of partially or entirely removing the clitoris and labia of girls and youthful women for non-health care factors. In the most severe situations, the vagina is also closed.

• FGM is practised in a selection of countries by a quantity of ethnic and religious groups.

• FGM might be carried out from infancy up right up until close to 15. In some settings the practice is carried out by physicians, but it is also practiced by standard cutters with no health-related training.

• FGM causes severe soreness and typically prospects to serious infection. Fatal haemorragging can result. A female who has been ‘cut’ is doubly probably to die in labour. It also increases the danger of a infant becoming stillborn.

• Ladies and females knowledge soreness for several many years after they’ve undergone FGM, during intercourse and in childbirth.

• three million women living in Africa are at chance of FGM each and every yr.

• twenty,000 women residing in the United kingdom are at threat of FGM each and every yr.

At the table

Alexandra Topping (Chair) Journalist, the Guardian

Jason Ashwood Detective Superintendent, sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, Met police

Tanya Barron CEO, Prepare Uk

Madina Bocoum Daff Programme manager, FGM, Strategy Mali

Dr Ash Chand Head of technique and development, minority ethnic young children, NSPCC

Efua Dorkenoo, OBE Programme director, End FGM/C Social Change Campaign, Choices Consultancy Providers

Lynne Featherstone, MP Parliamentary under secretary of state, Hornsey and Wood Green (Liberal)/DFID

Trish Halpin Editor-in-chief, Marie Claire

Muna Hassan Youth campaigner, Integrate Bristol

Hon Dr Linah Jebii Kilimo Chair, Anti Female Genital Mutilation Board

Sarah McCulloch Director, ACCM Uk

Dr Comfort Momoh, MBE FGM public well being specialist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, African Effectively Girl Clinic

Khalid Roy Advocacy and policy manager, Islamic Relief Throughout the world

Sir Keir Starmer QC Barrister and former DPP, Doughty Street Chambers

Nicola Walters Headteacher, Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy

Credits

This content has been sponsored by Plan UK. All content is editorially independent. Make contact with Rachel Joy on 020 3353 2688 (rachel.joy@theguardian.com). For information on roundtables visit: theguardian.com/sponsored-articles

Calling for an end to female genital mutilation

Calling for an finish to female genital mutilation

The video opens with a single red rose in full bloom. It’s beautiful, perfect, bursting with life. Suddenly, a pair of scissors opens wide; the deep V-shape of the steel blades surrounds the crimson petals. In one swift slice, the rose is destroyed.

It’s a searing image to launch Plan UK’s Because I am a Girl campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM). It’s also one the charity agonised over, because the issue of FGM and how it is depicted and addressed is fraught with difficulty for all those battling to end the practice. But a determination to challenge this hidden and brutal abuse of girls and women is building a momentum that now cannot be stopped.

Opening the roundtable discussion, Plan UK chief executive Tanya Barron welcomed the tenacious work being carried out by many agencies. “We face a great opportunity,” she said. “FGM is on the agenda as never before.”

The starting point, she continued, is to define FGM squarely as a fundamental violation of girls’ and women’s human rights. To end FGM, she said, “we believe we have to foster a general attitude of ending violence against women and girls”.

Lynne Featherstone MP from the Department for International Development (DfID) agreed, saying that she saw FGM as “one of the most extreme manifestations of gender inequality”. Events such as the Girl Summit in July, she said, will support an Africa-led movement to abolish FGM. “It will be a massive event and it’s going to bring together community leaders, faith groups, the public sector and the private sector. There will be actual commitments that people will have to take forwards.”

Chair Alexandra Topping asked if there was a danger that the high-profile of FGM in the UK and other European countries could be seen as oppressive by African governments – and, indeed, local communities.

It’s an attitude that Madina Bocoum Daff, FGM programme manager for Plan Mali, says she has already encountered in villages. “But it’s important to us that people understand this is a global movement, like vaccination of children is a global movement,” she explained. “It’s really important for us to realise that if we can’t get rid of FGM in Mali, then you can’t in Europe. We also want people here [in the UK] to know it’s not just a fight that you’re fighting – we’re fighting it in Mali, too.”

Ensuring that African governments legislate against FGM is vital, explained Kenyan former MP Dr Linah Jebii Kilimo, chair of her country’s Anti-FGM Board: “I wanted a legal tool so that NGOs could go and say: ‘You are breaking the laws of your land and we will train you in how not to.’”

Social persecution

Driven by her own misery as a teenager, when Kilimo was stigmatised for not having been “cut” in a community where FGM was rife, she championed the introduction of an anti-FGM law by Kenya’s parliament in 2011. To achieve delicate goals, she suggested, campaigners must work to understand the priorities of the individuals whose influence they seek.

“We worked by co-opting male members of parliament,” she recalled. “We took them out of Nairobi, which they liked, for workshops. We showed them films [of FGM being performed], because I wanted them to see the monster that FGM is. The minister for children collapsed. By the end, the men were saying: ‘Bring the bill, we must criminalise it.’”

Do men need to be more vocal in support of anti-FGM messages?

“Yes” came the resounding answer from campaigner Khalid Roy, who is married to a Sudanese woman and has “heard the screams of nieces”. Given that Muslim scholars remain “the only international caucus calling for its perpetuation”, he said it remains extraordinarily difficult to change the orthodoxy within Islam. This, in turn, influences Muslim communities which, encouraged by their religious leaders, struggle to grasp why FGM should cease.

Criminalisation may clarify the secular attitude towards FGM, but it was pointed out that it has been illegal in the UK for nearly three decades and yet only this year has there been a single – highly controversial – prosecution.

Waiting for girls to disclose, in hindsight, was never going to work, said former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer QC. “Proactive policing, using techniques employed to investigate other crimes” is far more likely to be successful than waiting for a terrified girl to shop her family and get herself taken into care.

More cases are now being passed to the Crown Prosecution Service – four in 2013, and 11 so far this year. But while trials are symbolically powerful, he warned, they can only ever be “part of the response”.

Prosecution holds its own problems, observed Dr Ash Chand, the NSPCC’s head of strategy and development, minority ethnic children. “We know that women can be the victims and be the perpetrators too, in terms of being coerced into doing what they do.” He questioned how sophisticated any legislation will be in protecting mothers who are unable to resist the demands of their culture to mutilate their daughters. “There is a risk that we end up prosecuting victims.”

Starmer’s response was robust. Although there is no defence of coercion in UK law, varying the severity of charges is a possible solution “when you have a genuine victim caught within the crime”, he said.

Could media coverage of FGM and the catastrophic damage it causes lead to the conversation being overtaken by western voices? Trish Halpin, editor-in-chief at Marie Claire, which ran its first FGM feature in 1990, said it was vital to take in diverse perspectives. “It’s now much more of a widespread dialogue across all media,” she said. “That’s also to do with social media and the fourth wave of feminism, with young women engaging with feminism and wanting to eradicate inequality.”

Some progress has been made on prevention but more is left to do. It’s still a rare event for a girl to walk into a police station, but disclosures in the Metropolitan area have risen from 26 in 2012 to a projection of more than 100 this year. Given that FGM is irreversible, Detective Superintendent Jason Ashwood, head of the Met’s FGM team, said he saw his officers’ primary role as safeguarding.

Protecting vulnerable girls requires effective partnership working, he emphasised. “We need to get the whole of the public sector system very aware, so that they report, and make sure they’re consistent in the way that risk assessments are made so that police are aware,” he said. The authorities are then able, for example, to prevent a family from travelling to have their daughter cut abroad.

Schools are also being asked to take on greater responsibility for safeguarding. But school leaders, said Nicola Walters, headteacher at Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy in Birmingham, need support “from key people who can access those communities”. This is the only way schools can play their part in teaching girls about their sexual health and human rights. Without influential community support, parents can – and do – withdraw their daughters from class.

Effective safeguarding also requires understanding of why FGM happens, said Efua Dorkenoo, programme director for the End FGM/C Social Change Campaign at Options Consultancy Services.

“The act itself is at the core of the control of female sexuality – and it’s because of the control dimension there’s always going to be resistance,” she said. That resistance means, she believes, that only a whole-system approach to prevention driven by government agencies will work.

“What are we doing with daughters delivered in hospital? These girls need special pathways,” she insisted. “They need to be followed and monitored until they are out of risk. We need early identification, and to get social care to the table, because they are not at the table.”

The criticism of social care and health professionals was underscored by a number of participants. FGM public health specialist Dr Comfort Momoh, who has established the African Well Woman clinic at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in south London, is also frustrated that she has not seen more urgency from government departments in the UK. “I’ve been fighting and working with the Department of Health to have a roundtable for health and social services, and this has not happened – if we’re saying it’s child abuse, we need to have a good system, so everybody will know what to do.”

Despite considerable recent publicity, ignorance of FGM remains across the social work, police and health professions, said ACCM UK director Sarah McCulloch, “which fear that if they ask questions they will be labelled as racist”. Teachers too, the only professionals who have daily contact with vulnerable girls, may have no understanding of FGM, observed university student Muna Hassan from charity Integrate Bristol. “Last year a teacher in my school who was teaching A-level health and social care didn’t know what FGM is. That’s someone responsible for future social workers and nurses. There needs to be statutory training for frontline staff.”

No matter the enduring difficulty of tackling FGM, however, the room resonated with optimism. “Within our lifetime” was a phrase heard repeatedly throughout the morning. “Our generation has been sacrificed, but we can change this,” concluded Plan Mali’s Daff.

Visit plan-uk.org/because-i-am-a-girl/fgm-rose to find out more

FGM: the facts

• Female genital mutilation (FGM)is the practice of partially or totally removing the clitoris and labia of girls and young women for non-medical reasons. In the most extreme cases, the vagina is also closed.

• FGM is practised in a range of countries by a number of ethnic and religious groups.

• FGM may be carried out from infancy up until around 15. In some settings the practice is carried out by doctors, but it is also practiced by traditional cutters with no medical training.

• FGM causes severe pain and often leads to serious infection. Fatal haemorragging can result. A woman who has been ‘cut’ is doubly likely to die in labour. It also increases the danger of a baby being stillborn.

• Girls and women experience pain for many years after they’ve undergone FGM, during sex and in childbirth.

• 3 million girls living in Africa are at risk of FGM every year.

• 20,000 girls living in the UK are at risk of FGM every year.

At the table

Alexandra Topping (Chair) Journalist, the Guardian

Jason Ashwood Detective Superintendent, sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, Met police

Tanya Barron CEO, Plan UK

Madina Bocoum Daff Programme manager, FGM, Plan Mali

Dr Ash Chand Head of strategy and development, minority ethnic children, NSPCC

Efua Dorkenoo, OBE Programme director, End FGM/C Social Change Campaign, Options Consultancy Services

Lynne Featherstone, MP Parliamentary under secretary of state, Hornsey and Wood Green (Liberal)/DFID

Trish Halpin Editor-in-chief, Marie Claire

Muna Hassan Youth campaigner, Integrate Bristol

Hon Dr Linah Jebii Kilimo Chair, Anti Female Genital Mutilation Board

Sarah McCulloch Director, ACCM UK

Dr Comfort Momoh, MBE FGM public health specialist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, African Well Woman Clinic

Khalid Roy Advocacy and policy manager, Islamic Relief Worldwide

Sir Keir Starmer QC Barrister and former DPP, Doughty Street Chambers

Nicola Walters Headteacher, Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy

Credits

This content has been sponsored by Plan UK. All content is editorially independent. Contact Rachel Joy on 020 3353 2688 (rachel.joy@theguardian.com). For information on roundtables visit: theguardian.com/sponsored-content

Calling for an finish to female genital mutilation

Calling for an end to female genital mutilation

Social persecution

Do men need to be more vocal in support of anti-FGM messages?

Effective safeguarding also requires understanding of why FGM happens, said Efua Dorkenoo, programme director for the End FGM/C Social Change Campaign at Options Consultancy Services.

Visit plan-uk.org/because-i-am-a-girl/fgm-rose to find out more

FGM: the facts

• FGM is practised in a range of countries by a number of ethnic and religious groups.

• FGM may be carried out from infancy up until around 15. In some settings the practice is carried out by doctors, but it is also practiced by traditional cutters with no medical training.

• Girls and women experience pain for many years after they’ve undergone FGM, during sex and in childbirth.

• 3 million girls living in Africa are at risk of FGM every year.

• 20,000 girls living in the UK are at risk of FGM every year.

At the table

Alexandra Topping (Chair) Journalist, the Guardian

Jason Ashwood Detective Superintendent, sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, Met police

Tanya Barron CEO, Plan UK

Madina Bocoum Daff Programme manager, FGM, Plan Mali

Dr Ash Chand Head of strategy and development, minority ethnic children, NSPCC

Efua Dorkenoo, OBE Programme director, End FGM/C Social Change Campaign, Options Consultancy Services

Lynne Featherstone, MP Parliamentary under secretary of state, Hornsey and Wood Green (Liberal)/DFID

Trish Halpin Editor-in-chief, Marie Claire

Muna Hassan Youth campaigner, Integrate Bristol

Hon Dr Linah Jebii Kilimo Chair, Anti Female Genital Mutilation Board

Sarah McCulloch Director, ACCM UK

Dr Comfort Momoh, MBE FGM public health specialist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, African Well Woman Clinic

Khalid Roy Advocacy and policy manager, Islamic Relief Worldwide

Sir Keir Starmer QC Barrister and former DPP, Doughty Street Chambers

Nicola Walters Headteacher, Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy

Credits

Calling for an end to female genital mutilation

23 Haziran 2014 Pazartesi

Muslim Council of Britain says female genital mutilation is "un-Islamic"

Anti-fgm campaigners outside the department for education before a meeting with Michael Gove

Anti-FGM campaigners prepare to deliver a 250,000-signature petition to education secretary Michael Gove. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the Guardian

The Muslim Council of Britain, the country’s largest Muslim organisation, has condemned the practice of female genital mutilation as “un-Islamic” and told its members that FGM risks bringing their religion into disrepute.

The influential MCB has for the first time issued explicit guidance, which criticises the practice and says it is “no longer linked to the teaching of Islam”. It added that one of the “basic principles” of Islam was that believers should not harm themselves or others.

The organisation will send flyers to each of the 500 mosques that form its membership, which will also be distributed in community centres in a drive to eradicate a practice that affects 125 million women and girls worldwide and can lead to psychological torment, complications during childbirth, problems with fertility, and death.

The MCB has collaborated with the African women’s support and campaigning organisation Forward and the Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the NHS (MSCP) to raise awareness of the dangers of FGM and warn practitioners that they face up to 14 years in prison if they subject girls to the practice, which involves the removal of the clitoris, or in more extreme cases the removal of the outer labia and the sewing up of the vagina, with a small hole left for menstruation and to pass urine.

The leaflet states: “FGM is not an Islamic requirement. There is no reference to it in the holy Qur’an that states girls must be circumcised. Nor is there any authentic reference to this in the Sunnah, the sayings or traditions of our prophet. FGM is bringing the religion of Islam into disrepute.”

It also states that there is “an increasingly high risk of being prosecuted” for carrying out mutilation, which has been illegal in Britain since 1985.

Dr Shuja Shafi, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “We at the MCB are pleased to address this very important issue of female genital mutilation. Working closely together we can end this practice and ensure it is no longer linked to the religion of Islam or the teachings of the prophet Muhammad.”

Dr Soheir Elneil, chair of the African women’s campaign group Forward, which helped to prepare the leaflet, said the publication was a step forward in the battle to bring FGM to an end within a generation. “This is the first time such a publication has been achieved with the full cooperation and support of the relevant parties, and we hope all those working in FGM will find it a helpful tool in the work that they do,” she said. “It states that FGM is non-Islamic and is against the teachings of Islam, that it is putting the health of women and girls at risk, and informs the reader of the legal implications in the UK of carrying out the practice.”

Last week the Home Office held a summit at which other religious organisations, including the Shia al-Khoei Foundation and the Muslim Women’s Network UK, announced their support for a government declaration against FGM to be published next month.

Muslim Council of Britain says female genital mutilation is "un-Islamic"

2 Haziran 2014 Pazartesi

Female genital mutilation poster campaign targets mothers and carers

Theresa May, the residence secretary, who launched the poster campaign, explained female genital mutilation was ‘often a hidden crime’. Photograph: Oli Scarff/PA

A poster campaign aimed at mothers and carers who suspect a lady is at threat of female genital mutilation is becoming rolled out across cities in England and Wales.

The posters urge ladies, especially individuals in Somali, Kenyan and Nigerian communities which have a higher prevalence of FGM, to call an NSPCC-committed helpline if they are suspicious. The posters will be positioned in public toilets, and also sent to schools, GPs’ surgeries, police stations and hospitals to be displayed in personnel areas.

A lot more than 20,000 women below the age of 15 could be at substantial danger of FGM in England and Wales each 12 months, with virtually 66,000 women possessing knowledgeable the method.

Announcing the poster campaign, the home secretary, Theresa May possibly, stated: “FGM is unlawful and it is kid abuse. The government is completely committed to tackling and avoiding this hazardous practice in order to safeguard and defend all woman and females who could be at a threat. It often benefits in severe consequences for their physical and mental overall health and we should do everything we can to eradicate it for excellent.

“This campaign builds on an extreme work under way across government. We comprehend far better than ever just before the prevalence and distribution of what is often a hidden crime and we are determined to see perpetrators brought to account in court.”

The posters will be positioned in washrooms across 17 London boroughs, in Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester, Bristol, Sheffield, Liverpool and Cardiff. They will direct mothers and carers to phone the cost-free 24-hour NSPCC FGM helpline (0800 028 3550) to report suspicions anonymously, or ask for aid and advice if their own daughter is at chance.

Norman Baker, the crime Prevention minister, mentioned: “Mothers have the power to stop this occurring to their daughters and the following generation. Political or cultural sensitivities have to not get in the way of preventing and uncovering this terrible kind of abuse. The law in this nation applies to absolutely everybody.”

The campaign will run till August to reach communities during the college holidays when most women are at danger.

The NSPCC has been contacted by much more than 200 folks since it launched its helpline final yr but believes this is the “tip of the iceberg” with thousands vulnerable.

In addition to the posters, on-line advertisements aimed at mothers will run on Facebook and Netmums, which will direct them to the NSPCC internet site for assistance and tips.

Female genital mutilation poster campaign targets mothers and carers