FORWARD
Tackling faith-based abuse in the UK and Africa
[Trigger warning: This article includes references to violence against women, including FGM.]
More than 230 million women and girls have experienced female genital mutilation (FGM). As well as causing severe pain, FGM can result in long-term complications, including urinary problems and difficulties during childbirth. In many cases, FGM can make sex painful and significantly limit sexual pleasure.
FGM and child marriage often go hand-in-hand, and girls who are married before the age of 15 are almost 50% more likely to experience domestic abuse. Worldwide, one in five girls are married before they reach the age of 18.
While FGM and child marriage are illegal in the UK, hundreds of girls are still forced into marriage every year and the NHS has seen more than 37,600 women and girls who have experienced FGM in the past 10 years.
FORWARD
FORWARD (the Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development) is a UK-based charity working to end violence against African women and girls. Executive Director Naana Otoo-Oyortey MBE explains, “We tackle multiple forms of violence against women and girls, particularly faith-based and ritual abuse. We’re looking at women who are affected by female genital mutilation, by child marriage and by domestic abuse. Some of the women have been trafficked; some are refugees or asylum seekers.”
The charity both supports survivors and works to prevent more women and girls from experiencing violence. Much of its work is in the community – engaging people about the dangers of FGM, educating professionals and ensuring that survivors are supported.
Naana says, “We want to ensure that women don’t perpetuate the abuse. With FGM in particular, women take a proactive role, with the false belief that they are protecting their children, so we want to make sure they don’t put their own daughters through it.”
Women who have undergone FGM are much more likely to experience problems during childbirth, but they often struggle to access expert healthcare in the UK. Naana shares, “It’s important to ensure that women’s needs are identified early, pre-birth, especially as not all hospitals understand the needs of women who have gone through FGM. We support professionals to be able to respond culturally appropriately in ways that will meet women where they are.”
Hammersmith United Charities’ grant
Earlier this year, we provided FORWARD with a grant of £9,985 towards the training and supervision of Maternity Champions and Community Champions in Hammersmith. These Champions raise awareness in their community, signpost people to services, offer one-to-one support, deliver talks and coffee mornings, advocate for women with professionals, and help to identify women and girls at risk of violence.
Naana explains, “Community Champions are critical in building bridges between statutory professionals and communities. They provide much-needed peer-to-peer support on the ground. Because of their language skills, they are able to bond better with women and help them to access services.”
The Champions have lived experience and can engage with people in a way that outsiders cannot. As one Champion said, “You have to be very clever [as a Champion] with how to approach community members, how to convince them, how to change or replace the bad ideas or bad habits or cultures in their head; to replace it with the new one and how to convince them that this is the right one.”
The Champions themselves also benefit, as they gain skills and experience that can help them to find paid employment.
Get involved
- If you’re a woman or girl and have been affected by violence, you can access support on FORWARD’s website, by emailing support@forwarduk.org.uk or by calling 0208 960 4000.
- FORWARD is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is aiming to raise £100,000 by the end of the year to support its work. If you’d like to make a donation, you can do so here.
- If you’re interested in training to become a Community or Maternity Champion for your own community, email forward@forwarduk.org.uk
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