Female genital mutilation in the UK- where are we, where do we go next? Involving communities in setting the research agenda

Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to a set of practices involving cutting, alteration or injury to the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. With no known health benefits, FGM is often associated with immediate and long-term health complications. Over 200 million girls and women worldwide are living with the effects of FGM. Every year 3 million girls and women are at risk of being cut and exposed to harmful health consequences. Globally FGM is concentrated in sub-Saharan African countries from the Atlantic Coast to the Horn of Africa, but women in other countries including Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Indonesia and Malaysia, are also affected. Global migration means FGM is now a worldwide health issue.

In the UK, there is increasing awareness of the importance of FGM as a health and safeguarding issue. There are many communities living in the UK who originate from countries where FGM is practised. Every local authority area is likely to have women and girls who are affected or potentially at risk. FGM has been a crime in the UK since 1985, and the government is committed to eliminating it. Recent legal changes now make it compulsory for doctors, teachers and other regulated professionals to report directly to the police when anyone aged under 18 makes a first hand disclosure of FGM or FGM is found on examination, and for English NHS health organisations to submit data to NHS Digital about women and girls they have seen who have experienced FGM.

Research on the effects of FGM on women and communities in England is limited. In particular, we know little of affected communities’ knowledge and understanding of these new legal changes, and how this might impact on people’s willingness to go to their doctor. Nor do we know how health professionals are responding to these changes.

We held a series of patient and public involvement (PPI) events with women, communities, health professionals, teachers and researchers living and working in England. We wanted to listen and understand more about these issues and what affected communities believe are the healthcare needs and research priorities.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to a set of practices that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-therapeutic reasons [1]. FGM also encompasses practices that involve injury or alteration to the external genitals including gishiri cuts [2], labial stretching and scarification. The procedure has no known health benefits and often puts those affected at immediate and long-term risk of numerous health problems [3]. Immediate physical risks include haemorrhage, pain, shock, infection, urination problems and death [3]. Many affected women go on to endure the consequences for life; they are more likely to have adverse obstetric outcomes [4] and suffer from mental health problems such as depression and PTSD [5].

Over 200 million girls and women worldwide are living with the effects of FGM [6]. Every year, 3 million girls and women are at risk of FGM and exposed to its potentially negative health consequences. Globally FGM is concentrated in a band of sub-Saharan African countries from the Atlantic Coast to the Horn of Africa but women in other countries such as Indonesia are also affected [7].

There is increasing awareness of FGM as an important health issue in the UK. In 2011, an estimated 103,000 women aged 15–49 with FGM were living in England and Wales [8]. The prevalence rate (England and Wales) is estimated to be 4.8 per 1000 population. Whilst there are wide variations - London has the highest, but Manchester, Slough, Bristol, Leicester and Birmingham also have high rates - there are likely to be affected women and girls living in every local authority area [8].

There has been limited research on FGM in England. Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) explored attitudes towards and experiences of FGM by African communities in Greater Manchester (2015) [9]. They reported a ‘gaping hole’ in terms of education and the provision of support for FGM-affected communities and emphasised the need to involve men in all efforts to end FGM. They described a ‘culture of silence’ where community members would not admit to knowing anyone who would perform FGM, yet ‘everyone knew where to go if they needed a “cutter”’. They found considerable ambivalence about the UK law. Many felt FGM should not be a criminal offence because it is ‘part of their culture’ [9]. These issues of legality may be further compounding the cultural taboo that surrounds discussing and researching FGM. A respondent to the Bristol PEER study into women’s experiences and attitudes to FGM (2010) said ‘traditionally it is very difficult in our country to talk about the affairs of FGM, and it is very shameful to speak on it’ [10]. This shame can influence perceptions of the accessibility of healthcare. The Bristol study concluded that confidence and trust in the health services was minimal. The 2016 PEER study, conducted by FORWARD and Barnardos, captured the views of migrants in Essex and Norfolk and reported that women found it “too hard to open up to their GP” [11].

In addition to difficulty in speaking up, research has hitherto shown communities perceive a lack of awareness of FGM amongst health professionals as well as lack of appropriate clinical services as key areas to be addressed (Bristol PEER) [10]. There have been significant efforts to improve services for FGM-affected women and girls in the UK. For example, including the development of e-learning resources and guidance for health professionals [12, 13]. These are in the context of government efforts to eliminate the practice. At the 2014 Girl Summit, the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron declared a commitment to eliminating FGM, and announced new funding and actions to tackle FGM including guidance for the police, an NHS FGM prevention programme and changes to legislation [14].

FGM has been a specific crime in the UK since the 1985 Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act. This was superseded by the 2003 FGM Act, the scope of which was extended by the Serious Crime Act in 2015 [15]. These amendments add the offence of failure to protect a girl or woman from FGM, provide lifelong anonymity for victims of FGM, and extend the scope of the law extra-territorially. To date, there have been no successful prosecutions for performing FGM in the UK [16]. The 2015 Act also introduced a mandatory reporting duty requiring all regulated health and social care practitioners and teachers in England and Wales to report cases of FGM where there is a first hand disclosure of FGM or FGM is found on examination [17]. There is no available data about the number of cases of FGM reported under this mandatory reporting duty and concerns have been raised about the “failure to evaluate introduction of female genital mutilation mandatory reporting” [16]. We have concerns that the majority of cases of FGM identified through mandatory reporting are historical, and there has been no evaluation on the potential unintended consequences of the mandatory reporting duty on how able women and girls feel to seek help or support for their FGM, both in health and school settings.

Additionally, the UK Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) (now NHS Digital) have introduced an FGM Enhanced Dataset, making it mandatory for all acute trusts (from July 2015) and GP practices and mental health trusts (from October 2015) in England to submit quarterly data returns detailing FGM-related health data, including patient identifiable information, to the NHS digital enhanced dataset which “supports the Department of Health's NHS Prevention Programme by presenting a national picture of the prevalence of FGM in England” [18]. The HSCIC have published assurances that no individually identifiable data will be published or shared [19]. However, there remains in the specification of this dataset a clause which indicates that data would not be shared unless a “legal or statutory gateway” is created [20]. Future proofing security of such confidential information is a legitimate concern. A recent memorandum of understanding between the Home Office and NHS Digital to enable sharing of confidential information gathered from the NHS to locate and deport undocumented migrants using health services caused concern  [21, 22], although the government have announced that this memorandum will be revised and will no longer be used to seek information about individuals for immigration offences alone [23]. Health professionals remain anxious that however well-intentioned legislation may seem, trust between caregivers and patients will be at risk of irrevocable damage [24–26]. The rate of data submission has been low, notably from primary care. The 2016–2017 annual report shows that only 74 GP practices (out of a total of approximately 7,613 GP practices in England [27]) submitted data returns [28].

In the aftermath of these legislative changes, it is not known what affected communities know and understand about these laws; what their impact is on perceptions of acceptability or uptake of services; whether mandatory reporting could deter young people from speaking up and seeking help, knowing they and their family will be reported to the police; and how these requirements are understood and perceived by professionals, including any impact on their behaviour.

FGM is a harmful practice. Victims need access to services that meet all of their health needs, in all health settings, across the lifecourse. They need to feel able and willing to access those services. Evidence shows these communities are likely to be less able to access health services [29] despite considerable health needs. It is therefore important to explore the impact of recent FGM legislative changes on relationships with health professionals in the context of their wider health. Through the patient and public events we report here, we sought to work with communities and professionals to explore research priorities and understand research and service needs to support both communities and health professionals working with those affected by FGM in the context of these changes.

Our aim was to gather voices from English communities affected by FGM and voices from professionals (in healthcare and education) serving those communities. We wanted to listen to what they identify as important research and resource needs and to form a platform from which to co-design research that would be acceptable to participants and useful to people affected by FGM as well as policy makers.

The principle that health and care should be designed to be more person-centred, and that individuals have a right to make decisions about treatments and manage their own health, is now firmly established as policy in many health systems [30–32]. Patient involvement in decisions and organisations has also long been advocated and is actively supported by the National Institute of Health Research in the United Kingdom. This was an exploratory patient and public involvement project (PPI) for which we held a series of focus groups and a seminar [33, 34] that we hope will provide a platform for developing participatory research going forward.

Focus groups were held with women from communities affected by FGM in a large urban centre and smaller multi-cultural city, including an innovative PPI workshop using dramatherapy techniques, and with professionals working with these communities from healthcare and education. The project concluded with an interactive seminar involving representatives from social care, health education, advocacy groups, grassroots organisations and community members.

Finally, we held a one-day seminar, as part of the Sheila Kitzinger Programme at Green Templeton College in Oxford, in February 2016. We invited experts from across disciplines, including advocacy groups and survivors working in and around FGM. Participants included members of community groups, (including the Oxford Rose community (an Oxford survivors network), BK Luwo (United women’s organisation based in Oxford) and Midaye Somali Development Network (A grassroots Somali charity based in London), people working in clinical services (including obstetrics and gynaecology, midwifery, health visitors, paediatrics and safeguarding, primary care, psychiatry and sexual health), multi-agency team workers (including police, social services and community outreach workers), legal and ethics experts, members of charitable organisations leading the way in developing understanding of FGM and in providing services and support for women, families and communities (including FORWARD, AFRUCA, Oxford Against Cutting, Shifting Sands, 28 Too Many), academics and researchers working in FGM (from disciplines including creative writing, public health, anthropology, the Refugee Studies Centre Oxford and three recipients of Mary Seacole awards working on FGM related projects). During this meeting, we reflected upon the progress made in working to support communities affected by FGM and eliminate the practice, and so asked all participants to consider and discuss what research and service uncertainties and priorities could include to continue to support progress towards this aim [36].

This article has been written in collaboration with the voices who contributed to our PPI activities. It reflects what we heard during the PPI events, and has been written together with community members, campaigners, and professionals working with FGM affected communities.

We were overwhelmed by the passion and energy that participants brought to these PPI events. The willingness to speak out with courage and commitment was noteworthy.

Many felt their culture was stigmatised by the association with FGM, and expressed a wish for a more balanced representation of their cultures and communities, including the positive values and traditions associated with the transition to womanhood. FGM is but one part of women’s lifecourse, and only one thing of many that had happened to them. Women told us that they did not want to feel defined by their FGM, nor be denied the opportunity to consider other health and social issues which may be more important to them.

As far as we are aware, this is the first published patient and public involvement project asking communities affected by FGM, and professionals involved in providing care for these communities, what they identify as research and service priorities. Previous research in England has gathered information about participants lived reality, experience and attitudes and has provided valuable knowledge about participants' experiences of services, and views about service needs and issues including the UK legislation [10, 11]. This study was a patient and public involvement project, in which we sought explicitly to gather community and professional views as part of an exercise in determining research and service priorities. Sharing experiences was not expected or asked for as part of the sessions undertaken. We referred to the INVOLVE principles of developing and designing research [38] with the public and people the research will be relevant to, and to the James Lind principle of patients and clinicians collaborating in setting priorities [39].

We were overwhelmed by all that we heard, and the number and breadth of questions we were asked. Participants had a great deal to say about FGM and there were forthcoming with their knowledge and ideas for the future.

Our contributors highlighted the complexity and diversity of experiences and attitudes towards FGM across the UK. We have been challenged to think more pluralistically about: where, when and how to address FGM during a woman’s lifecourse; where and when services should be addressing FGM; what communities to listen to; and how to listen to them.

This PPI project took place in the aftermath of the introduction of legislative changes around FGM and they were being frequently reported in the UK media; [40, 41]) which may have influenced the topics identified as important. However, we believe there is a significant need to take forwards in research the questions that were raised during this project, for example to consider what impact the legislative changes has had on behaviour and attitudes of community and professionals, and how to understand how to hear and use community voices when developing legislation and policy that affects them.

There was an overarching desire for solutions, resources and change to develop from communities upwards to professionals and authorities. Any learning and resources need to be co-created and constructed in such a way that they can be effectively shared between women, communities, and professionals. This would allow understandings of what will create effective change, services and training. We need to understand how we can develop and support this process happening, and what techniques, resources and research would be needed to allow this. We need to learn this from the communities themselves.