Nottingham connected
some extent aware of it. This is obviously good
news although even now few people, even in
regulated professional caring roles, are confident
about what to do if they suspect a child is at risk or
has been harmed. I attended two Parliamentary
meetings which considered mandatory reporting
of FGM only last week, and there is still a very
long way to go.
…in developed nations we do have more
resources – assuming policy makers can be
persuaded to use them – to enforce that (FGM)
prohibition.
Concerning the increased prevalence of FGM in
the UK, I would add, however, that in a way the
newly emerging figures, whilst extremely alarming,
are also helpful. If people in the diaspora come
into countries such as Britain they must learn that
FGM is absolutely not OK, and this can only be
for the good. For many their country of origin also
prohibits FGM, but in developed nations we do
have more resources – assuming policy makers
can be persuaded to use them – to enforce that
prohibition.
I have been following the UK situation closely for
some years (my book Eradicating Female Genital
Mutilation offers as a ‘case study’ the subtitle ‘A
UK Perspective‘), and I am cautiously hopeful
that, although the absolute numbers in Britain
are daunting, the situation is beginning to be
addressed. But I am also acutely conscious that
we must never, for one moment, be complacent.
(Harmful Traditional Practices) are economic
crimes in a very fundamental sense, and
they have massive fiscal impacts on the
communities and even on the nations where
they are practised… These practices won’t
stop whilst there is significant financial reward
to be gained.
Faith & Spirituality
21
and all of them are at base concerned with money.
In other words, they are economic crimes in a
very fundamental sense, and they have massive
fiscal impacts on the communities and even on the
nations where they are practised.
The individual suffering is always paramount, but
with 200 million women and girls alive today who
have experienced FGM, even before we consider
other HTPs, I suspect that overall these gendered
crimes are almost akin to human trafficking in their
global economic consequences over time.
Most enforcement agencies at every level
from local to international have barely begun
to acknowledge either the human rights or the
economic aspects (of FGM).
It follows that a very committed emphasis on
the criminal aspects of FGM is essential. These
practices won’t stop whilst there is significant
financial reward to be gained. Most enforcement
agencies at every level from local to international
have barely begun to acknowledge either the
human rights or the economic aspects, however.
Alongside this there is very important work to be
done in educating communities – girls and boys,
men and women alike – on the grim outcomes
of FGM and other traditional practices. Even
knowledge of anatomy is often lacking, and
sometimes the men are unaware of the impacts,
whilst the women believe them simply to be a
‘normal’ part of womanhood.
…education and enforcement go hand-in-hand
in the eradication of FGM and, indeed, of all
HTPs.
Q: What do you think is the most effective
approach for addressing FGM?
Ms. Burrage: Firstly, FGM is not ‘just a single
thing’ on its own. It is one aspect of the whole
grim issue of Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs)
and must be seen as such. Whether the overt
rationale has moved on or not, all these practices
comprise aspects of patriarchy incarnate – the
literal imposition of men’s will onto female bodies –
UN Geneva Book Launch at the IAC Conference