FGM training for London nurseries amid fears victims are getting younger

Nursery staff in London are being trained to spot the signs of female genital mutilation amid concerns that girls are being cut at increasingly younger ages to avoid detection, the Evening Standard can reveal.

Campaigners fear that babies and toddlers are being subjected to FGM before they are able to speak so that school teachers do not pick up on it.

Staff at two children’s centres in Islington who work with pregnant women and new mothers have already had training. Experts called for the pilot scheme to be rolled out to all children’s centres in London.

Midwife and FGM expert Joy Clarke, who carried out the training, said: “It should be mandatory that nursery staff should be trained. If they are changing nappies they can see if there is a problem and report it, so that the professionals can be alerted to take action to protect children.”

Health professionals, family support workers and council staff at the two children’s centres have been trained to recognise the signs of FGM, which in its most extreme form involves cutting off the clitoris and sewing up the vagina.

Ms Clarke said women from FGM-practising communities have raised concerns that girls are being cut at a younger age.

Heather Vaccianna from Islington council, who trains schoolteachers about FGM, said communities that would traditionally cut girls between five and 14 could now be cutting them as babies “because they don’t talk”.

Speaking at an anti-FGM conference in Tower Hamlets, she said: “They heal up so when they come to primary school — no problem. To change that we have started working with early years staff to help them spot the signs and symptoms.”

Anti-FGM campaigner and survivor Leyla Hussein said: “Training nursery teachers is key because they can pin point that child who has come back with different behaviour.”

A spokesman for Islington council said the children’s centre training did not come about as a direct result of evidence that girls are being cut at a younger age. But he added that the pilot project could be extended if it is successful.

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