In my other role as County Councillor for Tilgate and Furnace Green, I will be proposing a motion this coming Friday at the Full Council meeting of West Sussex County Council on the topic on the illegal practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). At West Sussex County Council, we are very keen to tackle child abuse in any form that it may take. FGM is of course a form of child abuse, even if those perpetrating it may not consider it as such. Without going into graphic detail, this horrible practice can lead to a lifetime of suffering.
This topic has received more national prominence in the last couple of years and sadly the extent of the problem is greater than most people think. It is estimated that 137,000 women and girls in the UK are affected by FGM with Crawley identified as one of the area’s most at risk of FGM activity in the country. The full extent is not known as the carrying out of the practice is secretive in nature. This has hindered the enforcement of the law relating to FGM and the amount of prosecutions in relation to the number of victims has been disappointingly low.
My motion, raising awareness in itself, will be supporting the work that the County Council and partners are doing in both its prevention and helping victims, as well as seeking to help raise awareness through schools and via public information. This isn’t a topic that fills my postbag every week but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t act on or highlight this hidden problem, reminding those who are inclined to carry it out that it is illegal and increasingly unacceptable across all of society.
I am hopeful of receiving cross-party support for my motion and I hope that as a man, my highlighting of this topic may make other men think that this form of abuse that we don’t associate with men, is something that concerns us all and not just women and girls. Ultimately, the more unacceptable across all communities this becomes, the sooner it will stop for good.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
9th December 2015
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