Stop female genital mutilation in the UK!

Thousands of young girls and women in the UK are at risk of female genital mutilation every year. Last month, a Sunday Times investigation revealed that undercover reporters had filmed a “respected dentist” and an “alternative medicine practitioner” offering to perform this operation right here in the UK. Since the article’s publication, there have been two arrests.

However, in London alone, police have received 166 complaints over the past four years, but not one has come to court. In fact, no one has ever been convicted of this assault in Britain. The reason? Authorities are turning a blind eye and refusing to commit the resources needed to stamp out this horrific problem.

But the Times’ explosive report gives us a window of opportunity. Let's now build a national outcry for action. Please sign my petition calling on Home Secretary, Theresa May, and the head of the Metropolitan Police Force, Bernard Hogan-Howe, to find and prosecute those responsible for mutilating women and girls in the UK and put in place measures to stamp out this cruel and criminal practice. Once enough people have signed, I will get decision makers' attention directly and via the media.


*Clarification: The email from Avaaz stated that “Each year, tens of thousands of girls in the UK are forced to have their genitals cut...”. In reality, an estimated 24,000 girls are at risk each year of undergoing the most severe type of FGM.

Image provided by CAGeM at www.cagem.org