The Vavengers response to the historic first UK conviction of a person for assisting FGM
“We don’t actually believe prosecutions alone are the solutions; we need to look at the root causes. ”
Amina Noor was convicted at the Old Bailey Criminal Court on Thursday 26th October
The Vavengers welcome the news that the Crown Prosecution Service has successfully convicted a woman of assisting FGM - the first of its kind in UK history.
“[FGM] is a very underground form of crime, it’s a child abuse, it’s a sexual abuse and because it’s so underground we just can’t get that many prosecutions.”
The conviction marks the second ever FGM conviction in the UK, and the first for assisting a non-UK person to commit FGM against a British resident. This prosecution is unique, as it is the first time a person has been held accountable for a cutting that occurred outside of the UK.
We hope that this news will function as a major signal of intolerance against this form of child abuse, which has been neglected for too long. FGM has been illegal in the UK since 1985, with assisting FGM outside of the UK becoming a criminal offence under the FGM Act 2003.
Amina Noor was found guilty of trafficking a three-year-old British child to Kenya to be subjected to FGM. Like the victim of this case, many British girls are forced abroad to be cut during so-called “FGM cutting season”. Nine years later, the victim confided in a schoolteacher that she had been subjected to FGM and the police were informed. We hope that the result of this conviction has brought a sense of justice to the survivor of this case, and we commend her for her bravery in coming forward.
This historic conviction is a breakthrough in holding FGM traffickers accountable, demonstrating that the UK supports survivors, and will not hesitate to prosecute perpetrators of FGM.
Despite this, there is much more work to be done. Until we see more prosecutions, harsher penalties, and widespread societal intolerance for FGM, then more women and girls will continue to be cut, both at home and abroad.
Our CEO’s comments to LBC News
Speaking exclusively to Steve Holden from LBC News on Thursday, The Vavengers CEO Sema Gornall said:
‘I’m really disappointed that this is only the second conviction…it’s very disappointing that we have these laws in place and we haven’t seen that many prosecutions.’
‘[FGM] is a very underground form of crime, it’s a child abuse, it’s a sexual abuse and because it’s so underground we just can’t get that many prosecutions.’
‘This case involves a teacher talking to the child when she was 16, which is really important because we welcome conversations [about FGM] with people who don’t come from performing communities to be able to talk to people, and if we were having those difficult conversations with survivors and supporting them, we would actually see more cases coming up.’
“I want to say, it [FGM] is not cultural. In some news stories we’ve seen the word culture being used [to describe FGM] and as a charity, that really alarmed us.”
Sema went on to remind listeners of their public responsibility under the mandatory reporting duty. The duty requires all regulated health and social care professionals and teachers to report known cases of FGM to the police if the identified survivor is under the age of 18.
‘We genuinely don’t think as a charity many schools or healthcare professionals are actually informed because we do often survey teachers and healthcare professionals and they’re saying they’re not informed about what FGM is or although they know what FGM is, some of them say it’s very uncomfortable or they don’t know how to have that conversation.’
“We don’t want to “other” or alienate survivors in the conversation, we want to ask it in the right manner and treat it as a crime and healthcare issue, because it is.”
When asked how to talk to survivors about FGM, Sema responded:
‘We don’t want to “other” or alienate survivors in the conversation, we want to ask it in the right manner and treat it as a crime and healthcare issue, because it is. I think if anybody is struggling and they don’t have an understanding of how to have these conversations, there are about thirty [anti-FGM] charities in the UK like The Vavengers… We’re happy to teach people how to have these conversations, we run masterclasses on how to have these conversations.’
‘It’s very key that teachers and healthcare professionals especially and the policing officers, all the frontline people actually do reach out to charities and book an educational session because that’s exactly what we do.’
When asked about our hopes as a charity for what this prosecution might do for people’s understanding of FGM in the UK, Sema concluded:
“We don’t actually believe prosecutions alone are the solutions; we need to look at the root causes. ”
‘I think it will signal intolerance… to the communities performing this, especially when non-performing communities are on to it and they are actually actively safeguarding children and women. It happens to children and adult women in this country and we’ve seen many cases happening.’
‘We don’t actually believe prosecutions alone are the solutions; we need to look at the root causes.’
‘[To support the mothers who are survivors we must provide] the mental health support, physical health support and the charitable support that they need and it wouldn’t happen to the next generation, it’s actually as simple as that. I think we’re overcomplicating FGM in the UK.’
What have the prosecutors said?
Patricia Strobino, Senior Crown Prosecutor within the CPS London Complex Casework Unit and area FGM lead, said: ‘Female genital mutilation is an abhorrent offence which can have a physical and psychological impact on victims that lasts a lifetime.
‘The victim in this case was just a young child at the time; she would have had no ability to resist this appalling practice and undoubtedly suffered enormously.
‘We want to send a strong message that this crime does not have to be carried out in the UK for perpetrators to be prosecuted by the CPS – we will seek justice for victims regardless of where in the world it is committed and offenders should be clear there is no hiding place.
‘We know this abuse can be incredibly difficult for victims to come forward to report but we want to be clear that we will support victims of this unacceptable violence and will not hesitate to prosecute wherever our legal test is met, no matter how long ago or where the offence occurred.’
Is FGM cultural?
No. FGM is a form of child abuse and a serious breach of human rights. It cannot be excused for any reason, and therefore cannot be protected as “cultural” or “religious” or “traditional”.
Amina Noor, during her defence in court, said that mutilation is done for cultural reasons. This however, was not a viable defence since FGM is illegal. The court further believes that Noor was aware of the harm FGM causes, since she is a survivor herself.
How many people live with FGM in the UK?
It is estimated that 137,000 women are survivors of FGM in the UK. A further 60,000 girls under the age of 15 are estimated to be at-risk of FGM in the UK.
But from our research as a specialist anti-FGM charity, we believe these to be conservative estimates. FGM is a silent epidemic, most survivors do not feel able to talk about what happened to them.
Why don’t people talk about FGM?
NHS statistics show that survivors are typically identified much later in life, usually during pregnancy. The average age of survivors identified during NHS appointments was thirty-two years old, and 98% of them cited that the abuse had occurred at least ten years prior.
This silence is a result of societal pressures and general uncomfortability with the subject. Survivors may fear social exclusion from their community and from society at large. FGM is considered taboo since it involves female genitalia - but it shouldn’t be. The more we talk about it, the better.
*To avoid confusion we use “FGM” instead of our usual “FGM/C” in this article because it is the official legal language used by the authorities involved in criminal cases. We also use “victim” instead of survivor to describe the victim of this case for the same reason.
Credit
Blog Author: Ellie Melvin
Comments: Sema Gornall & Patricia Strobino
LBC News interviewer and host: Steve Holden
Resources
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67225093
www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/woman-convicted-aiding-fgm-young-girl-abroad-legal-first