Government rejects calls for mandatory FGM lessons
Joe Lepper
Monday, February 8, 2016
The government has dismissed calls to introduce mandatory teaching in schools on issues around female genital mutilation (FGM).
Speaking during a debate in the House of Lords, Liberal Democrat peer Lynne Featherstone called on government to make teaching on FGM issues mandatory, either through personal social and health education (PSHE) classes or elsewhere within school.
Schools are currently free to choose whether to teach FGM issues, which have been an option within the PSHE curriculum since 2014.
Baroness Featherstone said mandatory teaching would be “one of the best ways to protect girls” adding “if we do not inform them about the risks of FGM – what to look for and who to go to – then I believe we are derelict in our duty”.
However the government has rejected the idea. Government whip in the House of Lords Baroness Evans of Bowes Park said: “We believe that it should be up to schools to have the autonomy to reflect the needs of their pupils.
“Of course teaching about FGM is one option that they can include, but we believe it is up to schools to think about the needs of their pupils and the communities that they serve, and it is for them to decide what best to cover and how best to cover it within their curriculum.”
She added that statutory guidance on FGM issues for all frontline professionals, including those working in schools, will be published shortly.
Draft guidance was published in July last year by the Home Office and includes details on how professionals across children’s services and health can meet their statutory duty under the Serious Crime Act 2015 to report FGM involving victims under the age of 18.
Meanwhile, Baroness Evans also revealed that there have been 18 FGM protection orders issued between July and September last year. These were introduced before the end of the summer school term to protect girls at risk of FGM before the summer holidays.
Latest government figures for July to September last year also show that there were 17 reports of girls under the age of 18 who have been victims of FGM coming to the attention of NHS professionals.
In May last year figures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) showed that since it began collecting FGM data from NHS trusts a total of 3,963 new cases had been identified. However, fewer than two per cent of these involved a girl under the age of 18.
