Education Minister, Huw Lewis, and Minister for Local Government and Government Business, Lesley Griffiths, will write to all schools to reiterate the Welsh Government’s commitment to ending Female Genital Mutilation in Wales.
This builds on the work Welsh Government has been undertaking since 2012, to tackle such issues through raising awareness, developing the knowledge of professionals and supporting communities to break down barriers. The practice of FGM is unacceptable; it is child abuse. Both Ministers are working closely together to reiterate this message and demonstrate their zero tolerance of FGM.
The Welsh Government has done a considerable amount of work to raise awareness of the unacceptable practice of FGM and this work will continue. This includes:
- Hosting the Together we can end FGM in Wales conference, the only conference of its kind in the UK held on the International Day of Zero Tolerance of FGM to raise awareness of the issue among professionals.
- Funding Bawso, the all-Wales service which provides specialist and holistic support to BME communities, to provide training on the issue to frontline staff.
This funding also includes the production of the FGM Toolkit for professionals and parents as a teaching aid, to raise awareness of the health impact of FGM.
- Developing a National Training Framework which will provide training to key professionals right across the public sector, to help them to identify cases of FGM and to support survivors. This will support the Ending Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Bill which will be introduced in June.
- Holding two Culturally Mediated Community Cohesion and Safeguarding training events, attended by over 120 professionals from the education sector including Education Welfare Officers, teachers and youth workers, which examined many issues including FGM.
- Consulting on draft revised ‘Safeguarding in Education Guidance’, which includes a full chapter on ‘Safeguarding Responsibilities in Specific Circumstances’. This chapter highlights the issue of FGM, providing detailed information on the risk indicators and links to further guidance. The guidance is currently being strengthened in light of feedback from our consultation exercise and will be published in Spring 2014.
Huw Lewis said: “Ensuring the safety and well-being of children is paramount. In Wales we have a strong tradition of working with our professionals, communities and partners, and this is the approach we will continue to take in addressing issues such as FGM. We began our work in 2012 through our culturally mediated training to educational professionals. We will be building on this platform by issuing revised Safeguarding Children in Education Guidance, which will include a section on FGM. It’s important that head teachers are aware of the statutory duties and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to keep children and young people safe from practices such as FGM, Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence. I will be writing with the Local Government and Government Business Minister to all head teachers in Wales, to draw attention to the revised guidance once published.
“Fundamentally, we must recognise that to eradicate FGM means working towards sustainable longer term cultural change. It is important that we tackle this issue in a coherent manner, which means securing the engagement of the communities involved. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and only by working together can we end FGM. “
Lesley Griffiths added: “I want to stress the Welsh Government will not tolerate the practice of FGM. Tackling FGM by raising awareness of the practice and supporting survivors is a core part of achieving our aim of ending violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales.
“I urge all organisations to identify what you can do to help us end this vile practice in Wales. I am confident together we can make a real difference and in doing so make our young girls safer.”
