9 May 2014

FGM arrest: woman was returning from Sierra Leone

A 38-year-old woman is arrested at Heathrow on her return to the UK from Sierra Leone, for conspiracy to commit female genital mutilation.

A 13-year-old Sierra Leonian girl travelling with the woman was taken into the care of social services, writes Channel 4 News producer Pauline Lockwood. The arrest follows Operation Limelight, a week-long initiative aimed at preventing and identifying cases of FGM in British airports.

During the nationwide operation, officers were deployed in several airports across the country to raise awareness among passengers to key countries by handing out leaflets raising awareness that the practice was illegal in the UK even if carried out abroad.

The police were also monitoring incoming flights from countries where the practice is rife. There have been four such operations in the last nine months, which have resulted in two arrests previously.

They’ve got to talk to the schools, they’ve got to talk to the universities. Our children must start talking FGM. Doctor Phoebe Abe

Speaking before the arrest, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “It’s important that we get to these passengers, to explain to them very clearly what the law is and to warn them that should they commit an offence they will be investigated.”

He also appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

‘Targeted operation’

FGM survivor and lead campaigner in the UK Leyla Hussein told Channel 4 News that “this kind of initiative is very important because this might be the only time that a mother might get that information. It also sends out a very, very strong message that the Met Police are watching this very closely”.

But there have been concerns that a week-long targeted operation is not enough to truly eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation.

Doctor Phoebe Abe, a GP based in west London, has 56 patients who have been through FGM, including eight under the age of 16.

She told Channel 4 News: “They’ve got to talk to the schools, they’ve got to talk to the universities. Our children must start talking FGM. So we cannot just leave everything to the police: the police is doing the work, we have to implement it in the community.”

FGM has been illegal in the UK since 1985, but so far, there have been no prosecutions.