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A survivor of female genital mutilation has spoken movingly of her experience as she welcomed a letter being sent to all schools in Wales to raise awareness of the practice.

Nigerian-born Sheila Jerome, who now lives in Newport, brought her daughter to Wales so she would not be cut.

She said a letter being sent by Education Secretary Kirsty Williams to remind head teachers of FGM and how to help pupils stay safe is "an answer to my prayers".

Staff should also be vigilant to the risk of young girls being taken abroad in the summer holidays to undergo FGM, the letter warns.

Prevalence of FGM in Wales is difficult to estimate because of the hidden nature of the crime, but an estimated 137,000 women and girls are affected by FGM in Wales and England.

Sheila was an infant barely over two when she became a survivor of FGM in Nigeria.

The 27-year-old mother of three suffered infections, complications giving birth and has never enjoyed sex as a result of the cultural practice of her tribe.

She says she did not realise, until she came to Wales that FGM is, as she describes it “the highest abuse against women”.

The practice is so interwoven into her community’s religion and culture that it wasn’t until a Welsh midwife gently explained to her the effects of FGM and she began to research it that she became horrified.

Pregnant with her second child at the time Sheila had come to Wales in 2013 with her husband while he did an MSc in maths at Swansea University.

The couple had left their eight-month-old daughter in Nigeria with her mother.

When they realised she was at risk of being cut the police and the social service were contacted. Police advised that the family should contact the Home Office which arranged for safe passage of their daughter to UK.

The couple’s determination that neither of their two daughters, now aged four and one, will never be cut has caused a rift with their families and community in Nigeria.

(Image: Rob Browne)

“If we went back it would be done on them,” says Sheila, who also has a two-year-old son.

“I would rather die than have my daughters cut. FGM is a harmful, barbaric practice that cannot be reversed.

“I don’t remember being cut because I was so young, but my mother told me the wound wouldn’t heal. I know of a child of eight who died bleeding.

“It is a cultural thing and no female can resist it. If you are not cut you are seen as unclean. It has caused me complications. When I gave birth to my first child I almost died bleeding.

I went online and read about FGM and a consultant came to our house and talked to us. I began to realise this should not happen to anyone.”

Sheila welcomed the letter but said FGM is a complex cultural issue that must be tackled in the right way. Many women and communities are unwilling to talk about it, she warned.

“That is why it is so important for me to talk about it. So that people will know about this harmful practice,” she said.

Kirsty Williams said: “I have written to schools to seek their assistance in helping eradicate this particularly abhorrent form of violence against women and girls. It is imperative we all recognise the warning signs of a child who might be at risk.

“Female Genital Mutilation is child abuse and a criminal offence. It cannot be justified as a cultural or religious practice and leaders of all main faiths have rightly spoken out against it.

“School and college staff must play a crucial role in safeguarding young people from abuse, which is why it is vital that they are alert to the signs of FGM and what action to take if they have concerns.

“Staff should also be aware that young girls may be taken abroad in summer holidays to undergo FGM, as procedures take up to four weeks to heal. The procedure may therefore be performed before a girl returns to school at the start of the autumn term.

“It is essential that staff are vigilant in looking for signs of FGM after the school holidays and report anything that may seem suspicious to the appropriate professional.

“I want all of us to be more aware of this unacceptable abuse, so together we can put an end to FGM in Wales.”

Statutory guidance is in place to support schools and education services in ensuring that child welfare concerns are acted upon effectively, involving investigating agencies where necessary.

(Image: PA)

Cardiff-based Bawso, which works with victims of FGM, is working to open a pilot clinic at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary to provide medical and psychological help to survivors.

There are five drop-in clinics in England for victims of the practice but none in Wales.

A Cardiff Council inquiry into FGM last year found 20 cases had been identified in the city and that the Crown Prosecution Service reported that there was one potential case being investigated in Cardiff although no prosecutions had taken place.

A report to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee in February this year said more data and training was needed to find out the scale of the abuse.

Bawso told the inquiry it had been engaged with 788 families in the past three years on work ranging from FGM awareness to one-to-one support.

The report added: “The inquiry heard how FGM was very complex and linked intrinsically with a community’s belief system and culture.

“Members heard case studies and anecdotal evidence from professionals and via community meetings held in Grangetown, which highlighted the difficulties faced by women and girls within their communities.”

Dr Mwenya Chimba from Bawso, the organisation which offers Information and support for black and minority ethnic people in Wales, said:"Our population in Wales is very diverse so there will children in schools from communities who are affected by FGM, so I think it's the right move."[FGM] It is an issue, not just in Wales, but in the UK.

"Currently there are some schools that allow specialist providers such as ourselves to go and raise awareness with the teachers and with the young people themselves. But that's not done in a systematic way.

"It's almost a postcode lottery, where some schools will say 'Well you can come and do that' and they're open and other schools are not."

A case of female genital mutilation was discovered every three days, on average, by maternity staff in Wales last year.

Figures obtained by BBC Wales earlier this year show 123 victims of FGM were found by midwives or maternity doctors across Wales in 2016.

A further 44 children under the age of 18 were highlighted as vulnerable to the practice.

It has been illegal to carry out FGM in the UK since 1985, but there has not been a single successful prosecution.