British girls who may be at risk of being taken abroad to undergo female genital mutilation over the Christmas ‘cutting season’ have been urged to ask a trusted adult for help. FGM campaigner and survivor Dr Leyla Hussein warned the festive period can be a dangerous time for young girls, as they may be flown abroad to be cut. She said: ‘Christmas time is the cutting season. Girls are taken away around this time of the year.
Because of the physical and emotional damage girls are going to experience, around the holiday is actually the best time to go, and I guess commit such a crime, because it gives people enough time to heal or to brainwash a child or groom a child into not speaking about it. ‘Because what people need to remember is, it’s done by people you trust the most.’
Dr Hussein, a psychotherapist who founded the Dahlia Project to help other survivors, added: ‘If you are a girl who feels you might get cut, you should talk to someone, an adult that you trust. ‘If you’re a young person, talk to your teacher or someone you trust. But also, if you know you really are at risk, pick up the phone, ask for help. Either call Childline or the police.’ FGM – intentionally altering or injuring the female external genitalia for non-medical reasons – carries a sentence in the UK of up to 14 years in jail.
Despite FGM having been illegal in the UK since 1985, there have been no convictions to date. Dr Hussein is critical of the law as it stands, believing people who commit the crime should be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act rather than the specific FGM Act.