July 2011 - The FGM National Clinical Group has the pleasure of announced a new Research Fellowship position relating to the investigation of teachers' understanding of FGM.

Through a bursary of £6000 to assist in the delivery of the project and then concluded with a presentation at this year's FGM NCG's conference in Birmingham.

For full details of the opportunity: Research Fellowship Application.





June 2011 - Through the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and its partners, a petition has been created to campaign for a ban of all forms of FGM.

More information can be found on the RCOG's website.

Click here to sign the petition.





May 2011 - The Eva Organisation for Women (EOW) are hosting a conference on the theme of FGM at the University of Leicester on Saturday 18 June 2011.

For more information, please visit the EOW website.





April 2011 - The theme for this year's conference shall be "FGM - Working in Partnership". Taking place at the Britannia Hotel in Birmingham on Wednesday 21 September 2011. Tickets will cost £50.

More details will be announced in due course.





February 2011 - Taken from the official press release:

SUPPORT to tackle Female Genital Mutilation

New guidelines will help frontline professionals such as nurses, doctors, teachers and social workers identify and prevent Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone announced today.

The guidelines, issued by the government to chairs of Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards, Directors of Children’s Services and Regional Directors of Public Health, will help professionals identify women and girls at risk and set out the practical steps that can be taken to protect them.

Speaking at a recent roundtable with local teachers, nursing staff, police officers, community leaders and survivors of FGM, Lynne Featherstone set out her vision for how central and local government, frontline staff and communities can all work together to end the cruel practice.


Minister for Equalities Lynne Featherstone said:

“I have seen first hand the effect this abhorrent crime can have on women and girls. This government is determined to put an end to it.

“The guidelines published today will help local authorities, charities and communities work together to prevent women and girls being subjected to this terrible abuse, and that those who have already suffered are given the appropriate care and support.


Hagir Ahmed survivor of FGM and Manor Gardens Advocate:

“I had the experience at the age of five or six. When you are a child you usually don’t remember things at that age but I remember. I remember being at a party and the people holding me down. My legs. My hands. My knees. And then I remember the practitioner with the knife.

“I don’t remember any anaesthetic. I just remember crying, crying and pleading. I was completely shattered, emotionally and physically.”



Joy Clarke, Lead Specialist Midwife at Whittington Hospital:

“When people migrate they take their customs with them and FGM is practiced in communities to keep those communities together. Because they love their children they continue to do it.

“Organisations like the Manor Gardens Advocacy Project are already doing good work to educate communities. I work with Manor Gardens to go out and run workshops with social workers and teachers in practising communities so they can recognise if a child is at risk. And I talk to parents about the physical and mental health implications and the law. In 99 per cent of cases this makes a difference but we need to revisit the families to make sure they have understood.”


Health Minister Anne Milton said:

"FGM is an extremely harmful practice that can cause long term psychological and physical harm, difficulty in giving birth and even infertility.

"These guidelines will help make sure that healthcare professionals are aware of the signs, symptoms and cultural issues that put women and girls at risk from this unacceptable practice. It will also help them to provide the most appropriate and sensitive care."

The guidelines have been developed across government departments in partnership with the Royal Colleges, FGM experts, charitable organisations and the Association of Chief Police Officers.

They will support frontline practitioners such as nurses, doctors, teachers and social workers to:




The guidelines document can be downloaded here: Foreign Office website.





July 2010 - The Department of Geography, Environment and Disaster Management and Department of Psychology, Coventry University, 10th November 2010.

Within the past two decades most countries within the EU have passed legislation prohibiting the practice of FGM/C, and some have even gone further by making it illegal to take a child out of the country for the purpose of carrying out FGM/C. Nevertheless, the practice of FGM/C continues. Research conducted in African countries where the practice of FGM is most prevalent suggests that strongly held beliefs are responsible for perpetuating the practice. However, how relevant are these belief and social meanings associated with FGM/C in the ‘homeland’ to African communities in the EU? Furthermore, how do governments and policy makers within the EU effectively address the issue without further marginalising immigrant communities?

This one day conference will explore the cultural and social dynamics associated with FGM/C within the EU and discuss possible solutions to a complex and controversial issue.

Papers are invited to address one of the following themes:








Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words and should be submitted via email or hard copy no later than 27th August 2010. Successful applicants will be notified by 20th September 2010.

Please send hard copy to: Dr David Beecham, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB or alternatively Email: d.beecham@coventry.ac.uk.





May 2010 - Reference: Pediatrics

The FGM National Clinic Group has grave concerns regarding the AAP Bioethics Committee Statement on FGM. Whilst this document sensitively explains the procedures and consequences of FGM, it contains the suggestion that federal law allows paediatricians to perform a “ritual nick” to avoid more extensive FGM in at risk families. This action is being taken at a time when many third world countries are outlawing this practice.

The FGM National Clinic Group opposes FGM in all its guises. FGM is a violent and barbaric procedure leading to significant short and long term health consequences and death in millions of women. Medical practitioners who are complicit in such “ritual nicks” condone and legitimise Female Genital Mutilation. Any genital incision on a child is an assault and the only object of any civilised society is the complete eradication of this practice.





March 2010 - The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has launched an online resource to give guidance when incurring situations surrounding FGM. In addition, a poster and leaflet campaign has been conceived that provides key details as well as challenges existing myths about the practice.

The documents can be downloaded here: FCO Leaflet and FCO Poster.

The FCO is the government body responsible for promoting British interests overseas and supporting their citizens and businesses worldwide. More information about their work can be found here: Foreign and Commonwealth Office.





December 2009 - Three independent charitable organisations - City Parochial Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Rosa (the UK fund for women and girls) have collaborated to establish a new UK-wide £1 million special initiative to fund community-based preventive work to safeguard children from the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Click here to read the entire press release on the Esmée Fairbairn website.






September 2009 - After the success of the last conference, entitled 'Female Genital Mutilation in a Globalized Age' in 2008, the group has decided to host a second event which will be of interest to health professionals, psychologists, sociologists, educationalists and others interested in FGM. The conference is to be held in London on Wednesday 20 January 2010.





March 2009 - The FGM National Clinical Group is developing an educational DVD for health professionals that explains the procedure for undertaking a reversal operation. This will be launched at the second forthcoming conference in London.