Home Affairs Committee: Written Evidence Female Genital Mutilation
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Home Affairs Committee: Written evidence Female Genital Mutilation This volume contains the written evidence accepted by the Home Affairs Committee for the Female Genital Mutilation inquiry. FGM0001 Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) 1 02 Anonymous unpublished submission FGM0003 Buckinghamshire County Council 5 FGM0004 NSPCC 9 FGM0005 Genital Autonomy 15 06 Duplicate submission 07 Duplicate submission FGM0008 Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) 18 FGM0009 Local Government Association 30 FGM0010 28 Too Many 31 FGM0011 International Association of Women Police 37 FGM0012 Professor Lisa Avalos 44 FGM0013 British Medical Association 56 FGM0014 UCL Graduate Law Society 57 FGM0015 Movement for Justice 63 FGM0016 PCC for Northumbria 67 FGM0017 Hawa Trust 70 FGM0018 ACCM (UK) 79 FGM0019 Avon and Somerset Constabulary and PCC 85 FGM0020 London Borough of Havering 90 FGM0021 Ralph Tilby 92 FGM0022 Intercollegiate Group on FGM 94 FGM0023 Juliet Albert 101 FGM0024 The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK 103 FGM0025 Metropolitan Police 106 FGM0026 Tackling FGM Initiative 117 FGM0027 Hilary Burrage 125 FGM0028 Rights of Women and Asylum Aid 133 FGM0029 Government 141 FGM0030 Bawso 150 FGM0031 Muslim Women's Network UK 155 32 Duplicate submission FGM0033 Fahma Mohamed 161 34 Duplicate submission FGM0035 FPA and Brook 165 FGM0036 NAHT 171 FGM0037 London Borough of Newham 173 FGM0038 Professor Sarah Creighton 180 FGM0039 Guardian News & Media 182 FGM0040 Tony Lloyd, Greater Manchester PCC 184 FGM0041 Dr Comfort Momoh MBE 188 FGM0042 Lancashire Constabulary 190 FGM0043 Dr Deborah T Hodes 193 44 Duplicate submission FGM0045 Mayor of London’s Harmful Practices Taskforce 195 FGM0046 Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) 201 FGM0047 Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD UK) 213 FGM0048 Equality and Human Rights Commission 227 FGM0049 Alison Macfarlane and Efua Dorkenoo 237 FGM0050 Crown Prosecution Service 240 FGM0051 Yana Richens OBE 247 FGM0052 Royal College of General Practitioners 249 FGM0053 Graham Senior-Milne 254 FGM0054 Peer Exchange 260 FGM0055 Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary 264 FGM0056 NSPCC supplementary 265 FGM0057 London Safeguarding Children Board 266 As at 13 May 2014 Written evidence submitted by Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) How effective is the existing legislative framework on FGM, and what are the barriers to achieving a successful prosecution in the UK? 1. CFAB’s strong suspicion is that the present legislation will not lead to a prosecution as it relies on victim testimony. As this will involve children giving evidence against close family members, often their parents, it is unlikely this will happen. However, as very few cases have been passed to CPS more cases may be needed to evidence this viewpoint. CFAB’s view is that a law which states simply that it is an offence to allow your child to have undergone FGM would be more effective. 2. The main barrier to a prosecution is that the child protection system in the UK is not set up to deal with an issue such as FGM. The child protection system is reactive and depends on referrals being made to social services. To prevent and investigate FGM social workers must be proactive and seek out potential victims as victims will not disclose and referrals will not be made as the abuse remains hidden until the children are adults and have children themselves. Also most of the abuse occurs overseas. 3. To work proactively, midwifery services and social workers must work together using the starting cohort of all mothers who have been victims of FGM who have daughters. Using risk assessment tools and meeting with families, social workers and midwives can undertake preventative work and also assess which children are most at risk. 4. Those families most at risk will be very clearly informed as to the law and monitored. In the unlikely event a parent states explicitly they will put their child through FGM, care proceedings can be issued. A more likely outcome is the family being seen as a risk and a strategy meeting involving health, police, school and social services will be arranged. From this meeting, each agency will be aware to be vigilant (especially either side of the summer holiday as that is when most abuse occurs) and the family can be flagged with Border Force and the police/local authority informed if the child returns from overseas (we have no exit checks so cannot flag people on the way out) Police and Social Workers can then work together to discover where they have been. If it is to a high prevalence country, the family can be visited under s.47 of the 1989 Children Act and, if this leads Police and Social Workers to believe FGM has occurred a child protection medical can be ordered (if the parents refuse consent this can be given by the family courts). The medical will give the definitive evidence. If 1 the law is changed (as suggested in point 1 above) prosecutions could then proceed without victim testimony. Which groups in the UK are most at risk of FGM (whether in this country or abroad), and what are the barriers to identification and intervention? 5. As stated above, the biggest indicator that a child is at risk of FGM is that her Mother is a victim of FGM. If the Mother gave birth in the UK then the Midwifery services know that the Mother was a victim and this should be recorded on their medical notes. 6. At present the fact that the Mother has been a victim is not shared with Police or social services. Even the fact that she is a victim and has a daughter will not meet the threshold for social services or Police intervention. The project approach described in points 3 and 4 above is required What are the respective roles of the police, health, education and social care professionals, and the third sector; and how can multi‐agency co‐operation be improved? 7. As described in points 3 and 4 above the key professionals are Health, Social Workers and Police. Schools have a role in alerting social workers if the child talks of plans for a summer trip to a high incidence country and looking for changes in the child’s presentation after the summer holiday but it is extremely unlikely that the child will disclose. 8. Voluntary agencies such as CFAB can assist in training social workers and related safeguarding professionals in identifying and investigating FGM. 9. Health services have a further key role in getting out clear health messages to women from high prevalence groups about the very real, profound and long term adverse effects of FGM on sexual, reproductive and mental health. 10. Other voluntary agencies such as Daughters of Eve, Imkaan and Forward have a key role to play in engaging at‐risk communities and seeking to change attitudes to FGM so it becomes culturally unacceptable. Long term, this is the key piece of work but it will be hugely assisted by a small number of high profile 2 prosecutions and a large number of child protection investigations so prospective perpetrators know that enforcement action can and is being taken. At present, perpetrators know that the authorities are not enforcing the law. 11. Significant resource has been put into the NSPCC FGM helpline. However given that victims are very unlikely to disclose and other family members are equally unlikely to disclose this has not been, perhaps, the wisest use of scant resource. As explained in point 2 above, this form of child abuse is not going to be referred to statutory agencies, they have to proactively look for it. How can the systems for collecting and sharing information on FGM be improved? 12. Child protection systems generally work well in the UK. The issue is that victims and potential victims of FGM are outside of these procedures. If the approach described in points 3 and 4 above is adopted then this will change. For this to work the key data to collect and share is Mothers who are victims of FGM who have daughters. 13. Once potential victims are in the child protection system the social worker will lead the multi professional team and information sharing will be a key part of this.. How effective are existing efforts to raise awareness of FGM? 14. There have been more media articles about FGM than child protection investigations into FGM. Therefore wider public awareness has been achieved. However, targeted awareness‐raising of the law and the health risks to victims of FGM needs to be given far greater emphasis and resource. This can be done through maternity services, health visiting and school nursing services and utilising the reach of the voluntary agencies mentioned in point 10 above. How can the available support and services be improved for women and girls in the UK who have suffered FGM? 3 15. This is not an area of expertise for CFAB but victim care, both for physical and emotional and mental health is key; as it is in all forms of child abuse. Therefore clinics specialising in reconstruction as well as support, counselling and self help groups should be widely available in areas with communities more likely to be victims. Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) January 2014 4 Written evidence submitted by Buckinghamshire County Council Commons Select Committee- Female Genital Mutilation Written evidence submitted by Faye Blunstone, Community Safety coordinator at Bucks County Council Executive Summary: In this report there are insights from two professionals (originating from the Family Resilience Service and the Children and Family Service in Buckinghamshire) and the following views have been taken: • The current legislation around FGM is ineffective and unclear.