GAMS Belgium: Online workshops on the impact of FGM on the mental health of those concerned

Starting from February 2022, the Concerted Strategies for Fighting FGM and GAMS Belgium have been hosting several online workshops for professionals in contact with families affected by FGM in Belgium.

A large panel of persons concerned by FGM and professionals have been invited to share their medical, psychological, sociocultural and community expertise on the different topics as well as their ethical reflections on several topics:

• What are the long-term consequences of excision on the mental health of the girls and women concerned?
• How is mental health perceived in the communities of the people concerned?
• How individual psychological follow-up and therapeutic group activities with women affected by excision can be linked?

The workshops have been rich in exchanges and were found to be instructive for frontline professionals in Belgium.

A new workshop is taking place on the 29^th of September.

This series was organised in French, online. They have been recorded and made available on the website of the Concerted Strategies for Fighting FGM:

http://www.strategiesconcertees-mgf.be/serie-dateliers-en-ligne-droits-et-sante-des-filles-et-ados-concernees-par-lexcision/