Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a practice internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights, the health and the integrity of girls and women.
This is an issue that happens around the world and the United Nations believes an awareness of the topic as well as comprehensive Relationships and Sex Education can help lead to the elimination of this practice altogether.
FAQs
FGM is a practice internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights, the health and the integrity of girls and women. In 2012, the UN General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution calling for a global ban on FGM. However, a March 2020 report found that FGM was practiced in at least 92 countries across all continents, while 51 of them had specific laws criminalizing FGM.
There are many reasons why FGM is practiced including:
- FGM is seen as a rite of passage for girls to become women.
- There is a link between purity and FGM, some believe that removing the clitoris stops a woman from having sexual desires.
- Some believe that women who undergo FGM are more clean and beautiful in some cultures.
- FGM is strongly rooted in traditions and there is often pressure to continue due to a traditional family practice.
Since April 2015, The NHS England has identified 33,590 individual women and girls who are victims of FGM, living in the UK.
While it is rare for FGM to occur in the UK, many families take their girls over to different countries for the procedure to then return and continue living in the UK.