Since becoming an MP, much of my time has been spent campaigning to prevent child abuse and to protect women and girls from violence. I have been outspoken against child marriage, which is often forced marriage and has devastating consequences. Unicef estimates there are 12 million child marriages in the world every year — that […]

Girls are being pressured to undergo female genital mutilation(FGM) in British playgrounds, a survivor has warned amid an international crackdown on the practice. Dr Leyla Hussein, who underwent the procedure when she was seven years old in Somalia, said pressure was being put on children by their peers as well as relatives. “Some of my clients […]

On Friday the Evening Standard broke the story of a three-year-old girl who needed emergency surgery after allegedly being subjected to female genital mutilation. London has the largest FGM-affected population in the UK and earlier this year a Londoner was cleared of arranging FGM on his daughter when she was nine. The medical evidence proved the child had […]

British Somali teenagers are being taken back to their parents’ homeland under the pretence of a holiday and then kept in detention centres before being forced into marriages. Under the practice of dhaqan celis, loosely translated as “the rehabilitation community”, Somali children and teenagers are routinely taken to the country, where they are often sent to “rehabilitation” […]

A travel ban imposed for 15 years on a child because of concerns that she was at risk of being taken abroad for female genital mutilation is to be challenged in the Court of Appeal. It is the first time an FGM case has reached the court. The travel ban was imposed on the child, […]

A husband and wife have been jailed for tricking their daughter into travelling to Bangladesh in order to force her into marriage. The couple were described as “monsters” by their daughter who they had threatened to kill if she did not go ahead with the arrangement. The father was jailed for four-and-a-half years and the […]

All the people involved in the death of a 10-year old girl who underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia will face prosecution as the government seeks to fight against the age-old tradition. This would be the first-ever prosecution of FGM in the country. Deeqa Dahir Nuur makes part of the 98 per cent of […]

A disproportionate number of victims of child sexual exploitation in Hounslow are Polish or from other Eastern European countries a council report reveals. The report, which was presented before the council’s health and wellbeing board on Monday (July 16), highlights the worrying trend which mostly affects first generation immigrants. According to children’s charity the NSPCC, […]

The father of a 10-year-old girl who died after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia has defended the practice. Dahir Nur’s daughter died of blood loss on 17 July, two days after being taken to a traditional circumciser. But he told Voice of America (VOA) “people in the area are content” with FGMeven considering the […]