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FGM Warning Signs
- 1. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Using This Presentation This presentation is designed for awareness raising amongst school staff and other relevant professionals to help identify girls at greatest risk of FGM. We recommend that FGM should be addressed through PSHE as a means to prevent it before it happens and empower young people to speak out about it. Please see our guidance: www.bit.ly/FGMguidancePSHE These slides are not designed for use in the classroom
- 2. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Female Genital Mutilation Warning Signs
- 3. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 FGM – Key Facts • FGM includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. • The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women. • Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. • More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated. • FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15. • FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
- 4. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Why is it practised? Reasons given include: • Control over women’s sexuality • Hygiene • Gender-based factors (removal of ‘male’ parts) • Cultural identity • Religion
- 5. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Who is it practised by? FGM is a deeply rooted tradition, widely practised among specific ethnic populations in Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia.
- 6. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 What should we do? FGM is child abuse and if you suspect a child is at risk, you should always follow the school’s safeguarding procedures immediately.
- 7. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Summer Holidays are High Risk The summer holidays are a high risk time so we need to be extra vigilant of the risk factors and warning signs presented in the next few slides and present all concerns to the school’s safeguarding officer.
- 8. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Girls Most at Risk • Member of a community whose country of origin practises FGM and that is less integrated into UK society • A girl whose sister or other relatives have undergone FGM • A girl whose parents have withdrawn her from lessons featuring FGM (where other warning signs are also present)
- 9. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Extended Holiday Families making preparations for the girl to take an extended holiday, including arranging vaccinations to the family’s country of origin.
- 10. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 ‘Special Procedure’ A girl talking about a special procedure or ceremony that is going to take place or that she is going to ‘become a woman’
- 11. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Families may practise FGM in the UK when a female family elder is around, particularly when she is visiting from the country of origin Visiting Relatives
- 12. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Mention of FGM You may hear reference to FGM in conversation, for example a girl may tell other children about it
- 13. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 Remember… FGM is child abuse and if you suspect a child is at risk, you should always follow the school’s safeguarding procedures immediately.
- 14. @PSHEassociation | www.pshe-association.org.uk| 020 7922 7950 NSPCC FGM Helpline 0800 028 3550 24-hour advice and support for anyone who may have questions about FGM or to report suspected cases
Editor's Notes
- #5 FGM is often deemed necessary in order for a girl to be considered a complete woman, and the practice marks the divergence of the sexes in terms of their future roles in life and marriage. The removal of the clitoris and labia — viewed by some as the “male parts” of a woman’s body — is thought to enhance the girl’s femininity, often synonymous with docility and obedience.