Nasheima Sheikh - Birmingham & Solihull Women's Aid - DFID Girl Summit 2014

Strategy overview: From her observations on how individuals' stories and images are used by media and organisations, Sheikh points to possible violations of media ethics in presenting FGM evidence, particularly from African countries where permissions may not have been obtained. She also speaks to the barriers of Islamophobia, resulting from fears linked to terrorist attacks, which form a context for work on the fight against FGM, and suggests keeping issues separate, while remaining cogisant of context. She sees advantages of working within an organisation that addresses multiple women's and children's issues so that policies on safeguarding disclosure are in place and appropriate training of staff has taken place. She has found that, after sufficient education on consequences of FGM, 90% of community members with whom they work declare they will end the practice.

 

From Sheikh's experience and that of her organisation, she brought three points to the conversation:

1. "Know your communities. There is diversity within communities of the Middle East and Africa. FGM is practiced in 40 countries across the world. FGM practices are varied and changing all the time. FGM is not seen as an issue by impoverished communities - they have other priorities (health care, jobs, housing). 
2. People often don’t understand the harmful consequences of FGM. They think that male and female circumcision is the same. Women who have had FGM can think they have had the least serious type and it is traumatic when they find out in the health clinic that they have the worst type. It is important to understand what women and communities themselves know about FGM.
3. Do no harm. We have shocking videos and images; do people making them have the permission of the child or woman who is being cut? We need an ethical code around FGM. Do not link FGM practicing communities with terrorism (as one government agency did, in linking Somali community to both issues). There will be inevitable disclosures of FGM - so it is necessary to have safeguarding in place. Our agency is located within a violence against women unit, which is appropriate."

 

From the "One Year On" report of July 2015: "Birmingham & Solihull Women's Aid has forged ahead in its commitment to address FGM, following the Girl Summit in July 2014. Since then we have had many achievements. Amongst other work this year, 2015, we ran four community events with our Community Champions, including an event on 14th February with the Gambian community, attended by 35 women; and an event on 19th March with Arabic-speaking communities, attended by 40 women; an event on 27th March with young women, attended by 30; and an event on 28th March, with the Somali community and attended by 33, mainly older, women. For many women, our events were the first time they had discussed FGM openly and they were surprised to understand quite how widespread the practice is, and of the different types across many cultures. There was a mixed understanding of the law, with some 50% not knowing it was illegal in UK. The events led to many women asking for more discussions that we plan to do in the future." In addition, Birmingham & Solihull Women's Aid provides the following services to women and children as a community support organisation: emergency refuge accommodation, a helpline, drop-in services, counselling, help with criminal and civil legal proceedings, outreach, and family support.

Overview of this Summit Session: From the Girl Summit summary document about this session: "This session recognises the importance and power of community members and the structures to drive social change for girls - including the importance of engaging men and boys. Here we explore a range of different strategies for working with whole communities to promote abandonment of FGM and child, early and forced marriage. We learn more about the role of championing from within, bringing men and boys into the picture, the power of working through pre-existing structures to promote conversation and commitment to change and exploring the role of the disparate communities in the form of diaspora groups.