Teachers and schools should check on the holiday arrangements of pupils from communities which practice female genital mutilation (FGM), a conference was told.
Delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers’ annual conference became the first teachers to discuss the issue at a national conference yesterday when they called on the Home Office to draw up a national strategy for eradicating the practice in the UK.
Helen Porter, from Berkshire, moving the motion, told the conference it was estimated 66,000 women resident in England and Wales had undergone the process and over 23,000 girls under the age of 15 were at risk or had already undergone FGM.
“As education staff, we need to raise awareness and encourage young women and women to question FGM,“ said Ms Porter. ”We need to help reposition FGM in terms of violence against women and girls not cultural practice.
Read More: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/female-genital-mutilation-teachers-told-to-check-holiday-plans-of-children-at-risk-of-fgm-9264624.html
Tags: Female genital mutilation, FGM, halo project
