Healthcare professionals are being invited to learn about female genital mutilation (FGM) at a special awareness event in Burton next week.
Around 24,000 girls are currently at risk of FGM – which almost always goes unreported – across the UK which means that this is a problem that cannot be ignored in Staffordshire.
Burton-based first aid training provider ABC Training Services is hosting the free awareness event at Anglesey Training Centre at 7pm on Friday 21 November.
It is part of a growing campaign to tackle FGM which saw over 400 professionals come together at a day-long conference at Stafford County Showground in September initiated by Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Arnold. She will speak at the Burton event alongside Tracey Hardie, manager of the Sexual Abuse and Rape Advisory Centre in Burton.
Mrs Arnold said: “There is no justification for female genital mutilation and we must commit our resources, our expertise and our determination to eradicating this practise from Staffordshire and beyond,
“I’m really looking forward to ABC Training Service’s event which is an important part of the ongoing momentum to raising awareness and joining together to tackle FGM.”
FGM, sometimes called female circumcision or cutting, involves the partial or total removal of the external female genital organs for cultural reasons. It is practised in 28 African countries and some in the Middle East and Asia and affects migrant communities in the UK.
Sandra Lees, from ABC Training Services, said: “The conference in Stafford highlighted many interesting facts and figures about FGM. We realised that there are many people, including professionals, who knew very little about the problem.
“We felt that our staff, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and ambulance technicians who work in the Burton area, would benefit from further information – which is why we’re hosting the awareness event on 21 November.”
There are a limited number of places left for the event for professionals who work within the community with a safeguarding element to their role. For more information ring ABC Training Services on 01283 845008.
Meanwhile, people are being invited to join a social media campaign calling for an end to FGM. The campaign – in which people pledge support to end FGM using their Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr accounts – now has over 230 supporters and will reach over 280,000 people on 21 November.
Thunderclap is the first-ever crowd-speaking platform that helps people be heard by saying a single message at the same time. Everyone who supports the campaign will automatically send a message of support for the campaign on 21 November in an online flash mob by all saying “#EndFGM” at the same time.
To join the campaign visit www.thunderclap.it/projects/17994-together-we-can-endfgm and click ‘support’.
