FGM in the UK, illegal since 1985 but no prosecutions, how can we change this?

[OvaryAction]

I have just read this article stating that two people have been arrested for performing Female Genital Mutilation on a baby less than two months old.

The UK's efforts to end FGM are being seriously held back by a lack of national strategy or action plan. There are plenty of guidelines out there for teachers, midwives, social workers, police and so on, but they are not obligatory reading and many people in positions where they could identify victims and girls and women at risk are simply not aware of the problem or the role they could play in fixing it. this documentary explains this problem very well and the woman presenting it has created a petition asking the home office to act now and create an effective national action plan.

Please, please sign it and share it. FGM breaches numerous human rights including the right to no torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and causes lifelong physical and psychological trauma to it's survivors. In some cases FGM is fatal.

Message from MNHQ:

"Hi there,

We've amended the title and flagged this to the campaigns team.

Best,
Catherine
MNHQ"

That title is so much better.

signed

Nicely done MNHQ. :)

And Ovary.

Signed

Signed

Bump

Great change, well done.

Not much more interest since changing though

If anyone has read the OP but doesn't want to sign would you tell us why?

Did anyone but me think the answer to the petition so far was wispy washy in the extreme. All this focus on one prosecution. Why is that enough? Why not a focus on stopping it completely? All so half hearted and weak.

Is this not a priority? Is it too horrible to think about? Is it too sexual to think about? Are people worried about seeming to pick on particular minorities?

OvaryAction, please don't be offended, as I know you were the one who went to the effort of starting the thread (and thank you so much for that), but I just wonder why you didn't make the thread title more petition-specific, I thought that was the reason to change it? Didn't you think that was a good idea?

Also, many people may not know what FGM actually is, never underestimate people's ignorance to them it may be just a random acronym and the thread title will therefore not grab their attention? I know I often won't click on a thread if I don't know what the OP is talking about.

Of course I may be completely wrong about this, I am no journalist, but just giving my thoughts, not criticising.

smacks forehead

I think I'm just crap at writing thread titles.

Signed

Bump!

bumping
it has reached 89,000 signatures over night 'only' 11,000 more needed.
that surely should be do-able?

Well you would hope so mousmous. And I think there is plenty of time before the deadline (next summer isn't it?). It's just that I suppose the sooner it hits the total the better. And I thought that with the number of MNetters that there are, it could hit the target with our signatures alone quite easily. I am a bit disappointed in Mumsnet, TBH.

that's why I keep bumping

read something in the metro today. only the headline and upside down
about hospitals to report to police if they come across it.
couldn't find it online, though.

I have signed and shared.

I had to explain to my bil what FGM is which was hard as English is not his first language

What is his first language pear ?

I like your second thread, ovary. And it seems to have done the trick, moving along nicely now!

Thanks Nadia should have done something like that in the first place!

I'd like to see that mous - hospitals being obliged to report.

And yet, what good is this if there are still no prosecutions...? This is the thing I'd like to see discussed.