Cutting to the chase on Zero Tolerance for FGM
2023-02-06 09:30 - 2025-02-06 16:30 (Europe/London)
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Many will mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for female genital mutilation/circumcision (FGM/C) on February 6th, and even claim success locally, nationally and worldwide in endeavors to eradicate this traditional practice. Few however will consider the negative effects that anti-FGM initiatives and interventions have had on targeted people.
High profile campaigns in the UK have promoted this approach, exemplified by political initiatives, legislation, activism, awareness-raising, surveillance, safeguarding policies with an overwhelming desire to prosecute. These have resulted in some Black and Minority Ethnic Communities locally and nationally feeling targeted, marginalised and stigmatised.
In Sheffield, many have experienced the negative impact of this safeguarding approach. Some women circumcised as children or young adults, mostly in their country of origin, feel victimised by the assumption that they will automatically subject their daughters to a practice most have since rejected. Some believe they have consequently been served e.g. FGM Protection Orders and had children removed merely because they belong to a particular ethnic group. Others have encountered unwelcome interventions because of the Mandatory Reporting duty. Systems that claim not to discriminate have left some feeling stigmatised and criminalised, while what should be relationships of trust with professionals have been damaged.
Challenging this orientation has been difficult and today some women at the receiving end will tell their stories and illustrate how problematic they have found it. Other contributors will put what is happening in Sheffield into a wider context. Together we will explore what communities and professionals can do to heal rifts and look towards working together more positively in the future.
Who should attend:

Safeguarding staff and practitioners
Community and voluntary organisations
Members of the public

Lunch will be provided
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The Untold Damage of FGM Protection Orders
2021-02-06 15:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
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Many will mark International Day of Zero Tolerance to end FGM on February 5th, and may even celebrate their successes in furthering that endeavour. But few will consider the damage being caused by the work of the anti-FGM movement itself.
Legislation is an important part of the movement’s armoury and FGMPOs are central to it. They were introduced via the 2015 Serious Crime Act and are designed to help protect children from the practice.
Between July 2015 and Sept 2019, 408 FGMPO applications were made to Family Courts and 489 Orders were granted. Some believe these numbers are too low, believing that daughters and siblings of women and girls who have undergone FGM and are living in the UK, are automatically at risk of FGM.
There is no evidence to support this claim or data to justify it. But the damage and inconvenience that Protection Orders cause to families and children in the application, granting and monitoring processes are unacknowledged or ignored.
Today some people at the receiving end of FGMPOs will tell their stories and illustrate just how damaging and problematic they can be.

Community Meeting
2020-08-31 17:00 UTC | Britwell Centre, Wentworth Avenue,Slough SL2, 2DS

Beyond Criminalization - A Feminist Online Dialogue Series : Dialogue 1 When Laws Harm
2020-07-16 09:00 - 22:00 UTC

Is Zero Tolerance The Best Approach To Ending FGM?
2020-02-08 17:30 - 21:30 (Europe/Dublin) | Oxford House, Derbyshire St, Bethnal Green, E2 6HG

The Importance of Ethnography in FGM Storytelling
2019-02-15 18:00 - 2019-03-22 20:30 UTC | Alumni Lecture Theatre (SALT), Paul Webley Wing (Senate House), SOAS University of London, Thornhaug
“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
It has been over 30 years since the initial anti FGM legislation was passed, in the intervening years we have seen a wave of anti FGM activism that has taken several forms, documentaries, direct action, governmental lobbying, and awareness raising, however one thing has remained constant: the prevailing single narrative which shadows women who have undergone the act. At this event, we hope to examine the prevailing thoughts and beliefs about women who have been cut and hopefully allow for a multiplicity of women’s voices to speak about their own bodies and how they view themselves.
We will also examine how data is collected and look closely at methods used to arrive at some of their conclusions and the heavy-handed use of FGM prevention orders.
There will be a panel of guest speakers who will present a variety of perspectives on the issue followed by a healthy question and answer session where will invite members of the audience to participate.

Working with the FGM Law. Challenges & Opportunities
2019-01-25 10:00 - 15:00 UTC
