UK survey finds FGM a more urgent women's rights issue than equal pay

Research by ActionAid UK has found that a majority of the British public believe female genital mutilation (FGM) is a more pressing women’s rights concern than equal pay. A survey for the charity found 53% of people say FGM is one of their top women’s rights concerns, coming in above equal pay and employment opportunities (32%) and access to childcare (11%) in a list of nine key women’s rights issues.

A majority of the British public believe female genital mutilation is a more pressing women’s rights concern than equal pay, research by ActionAid UK has found.

Released on the International day of Zero Tolerance for FGM on Saturday, a survey for the charity found 53% of people say FGM is one of their top women’s rights concerns, coming in above equal pay and employment opportunities (32%) and access to childcare (11%) in a list of nine key women’s rights issues.



Headteachers and anti-FGM activists across the UK have spoken out about the effect of education on the issue two years on from when the justice secretary, Michael Gove, sent a letter to schools around the UK alerting them of the dangers of FGM.



The letter was aimed at raising awareness among educators, however those responsible for increasing the understanding in communities said the letter did not start their campaign, but rather generated the media attention that made way for the progress that is now evident.



Sophie Allen, headteacher at Stonebridge primary school in Brent, north London, said: “Our journey on working with our community and heightening the awareness occurred before any letter from Michael Gove.

“We had already trained our staff and designated safeguarding leads and realised we needed to do something in the school. So we launched it in our community through International Women’s Day. We had links with Comfort Momoh [African Well Woman’s Clinic founder] and Forward UK.

“We spoke to some of our parents to get a better understanding of FGM in people’s lives and some of them shared their stories. So from then, once we had the parents working us, we did a session with the men and it worked out very nicely.”



Similarly in Birmingham, Hazel Pulley, headteacher of Parkfield school in Birmingham, said Gove’s letter came to her when they were already working on the issue and so didn’t prompt any change. “The letter raised awareness, but I already do a lot of raising awareness training right through Birmingham. And although prosecutions are interesting, we don’t even want to get there. We want to change minds and give information to children and parents. We want to make sure they don’t even get to that stage.”

Pulley was one of the first headteachers to hold workshops aimed at bringing together both parents and children. “Two years ago after a lot of groundwork I led a workshop with both mothers and daughters together. I led them with the school nurse. I was open straight away and told people that I wanted to talk about FGM, which I hadn’t done beforehand.

“I wanted to show compassion for these mothers and no discrimination or judgment. My two Somali and Pakistani co-workers joined together with me and said “we are doing this as three women”, which was a wonderful moment.

“After this we invited the children in and spoke to them about FGM and told them that their mothers would talk to them about this issue. So I nudged them together but didn’t talk about anything horrific. It was a lovely melting-together-raising- awareness session.”

Lisa Zimmerman, project director of Integrate Bristol, a charity that helps young people and children from other countries integrate, said that although the letter was highly encouraging, there was still much more that needed to be done.

“I think the most important outcome of the Gove letter was the media attention. We would have liked him to make more of a point about FGM to also talk about making it mandatory, and that’s something we are still campaigning for. We haven’t had any kind of response from the new secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, or any communication with her, so I feel that’s probably not on the cards without an ongoing battle in spite of the various meetings and evidence session that one of our girls contributed to. But we are still trying.”

Aisha Khan, an FGM activist who works with the Dignity Alert and Research Forum (Darf) working to end violence against women and children in Scotland and eastern Africa, said awareness and education was still a work in progress. Just a few days ago she told the Scottish parliament how necessary it was to educate and sensitise people to FGM.



“The government in Scotland are becoming increasingly aware about this and more involved with health organisations. But the thing is, because there have been no prosecutions people are becoming more comfortable thinking they can still practice it. But the government’s involvement will discourage people. It’s still a work in progress as more funding is needed so we can really integrate in practising communities,” she said.

Anti-FGM activist and psychotherapist Leyla Hussein, who founded Daughters of Eve with fellow psychotherapist Nimco Ali in 2014, spoke of how for her, the letter provided motivation for activists working on the ground.

“The letter had a specific reach to education and for campaigners it was very useful to have such a big media outlet. I wouldn’t have had the same success if it wasn’t for the role the media played in covering this.”



Hibo Wardere is the community mediator for Waltham Forest council in London, and puts education at the heart of her campaign to eradicate FGM. She leads workshops with school pupils, local communities and professionals in her borough where many young girls are affected by FGM.

“The letter from Michael Gove made no difference, all of the heads I have had contact with can barely even remember it. It left heads to their own discretion. For me, education on FGM began long before now, but we are seeing major changes; headteachers are now putting children and communities first. They are seeing what we are telling them, which is child abuse. What is more apparent now is that everyone is beginning to see this as child abuse.



It seems the teachers and activists agree that if education is really going to work in favour of eradicating FGM, it needs to do so in the form mandatory teaching. “I think FGM work needs to be continued under the umbrella of violence against women and girls,” said Allen. “That’s quite obvious and more obvious in certain areas. If you don’t have equality, be it domestic abuse, honour based violence or FGM, there needs to be a full agenda on this.”

Wardere argued that conflating FGM with child abuse is teaching children that is against their human rights. “We are seeing evidence that children know nothing about this; they are just as blinded as adults are,” she said. “This is a vital tool for them to have. It’s just like giving them their basic human rights. Headteachers are now putting children and communities first. They are seeing what we are telling them.”