WEBINAR - FGM Protection Orders: A British Legal Remedy to be Rolled out in other EU Countries?

On the 16th of June, the End FGM European Network, together with the University of Cambridge, the Goldsmith Chambers and the Middelburg Human Rights Law Consultancy, organised the Webinar "Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders: A British Legal Remedy to be Rolled out in other EU Countries?".

Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPOs) were introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2015 and in Scotland this year. They have been widely used by public authorities and family members to prevent a girl from being subject to FGM. They are largely injunctive remedies that for example, prevent a girl at risk of FGM from leaving the country.

Given that there has now been a proven track record of FGMPOs working effectively in the UK , during this Webinar we considered with experts on FGM whether they might be effective in other jurisdictions, particularly across the EU , which have the infrastructure to introduce a similar legal remedy.

Chiara Cosentino, End FGM EU's Acting Director and Head of Policy and Advocacy, facilited the Webinar, while the Speakers brought different perspectives to the conversation, talking about FGMPOs in distinct and comprehensive ways.

• Perspective of a barrister: Dr. Charlotte Proudman talked about the barrister's perspective, introducing the FGMPOs and their history to the audience and bringing statistics and examples case law.
• Perspective of a police officer: Gillian Squires brought the perspective of a police officer of the West Midlands Police.
• Perspective of a social worker: Leethen Bartholomew (National FGM Centre) explained how the application works in practice, the benefits and the challenges.
• Perspective of the communities: Amy Abdelshahid (FORWARD UK) spoke about the community perspectives over FGMPOs.

Dr. Annemarie Middelburg explained how could be possible to roll FGMPOs out to other jurisdictions, encouraging harmonisation across the EU.

If you weren't there for the Webinar, you can watch the Recording:

We organised a Follow-up Webinar on FGMPOs - PART II to:

• Recap;
• Leave room for questions;
• Talk next steps to see whether such system would be applicable in other countries.

This Webinar took place on Thursday, 9 July at 15:00 (Brussels time).