Stickers at Birmingham airport tell potential victims of FGM or trafficking to alert authorities by dialling 101

Travellers who fear they are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) or trafficking can now alert the authorities through a colour-coded warning system in airport toilet cubicles.



Stickers displayed in toilets at Birmingham airport ask passengers at risk of FGM, trafficking or modern-day slavery to call West Midlands police. Each cubicle is assigned a colour, so that specialist staff can identify and reach anyone who needs support.

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It is the latest in a series of measures introduced at airports across the UK, where UK Border Agency staff have identified a number of young people at risk this summer, according to the Freedom Charity. The charity has helped train Border Agency teams as part of a national Red Triangle campaign.

Between January and March this year, there were 1,030 newly recorded cases of FGM in England, according to NHS Digital.

FGM has been illegal in the UK for more than three decades, but there has not been a successful prosecution. It is also illegal to take a British national or permanent resident abroad for FGM, or to help something trying to do this.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest One of the colour-coded stickers. Photograph: Courtesy HuffPost UK

On Friday, two people appeared in court in London where they pleaded not guilty to the FGM of a three-year-old girl. The trial involving a woman, 36, and a man, 43, is expected to start on 14 January.

Aneeta Prem, founder of the Freedom Charity, welcomed the West Midlands initiative, which was reported by HuffPost UK. But she added that calls to 101 – the number advertised on the stickers – would need to be answered promptly.

Staff at airports across the country, including Leeds and Manchester, wear red triangle symbols to raise awareness among members of the public, she said.

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“[Border Agency staff] say to random people, ‘Do you know what this [red triangle] means? What does it represent?’



“It’s very matter of fact. They say, ‘If you know anybody who might be at risk of travelling abroad this summer’, and they target specific flights.

“We have had a number of girls who have contacted us, who have been stopped by the Border Agency, who have talked about the red triangle. They haven’t been taken abroad as a result of the badges,” she added.

The Home Office has identified women from a number of east African communities – including Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia – as well as Nigeria, the Middle East and Indonesia, as being most at risk.

A spokesperson for West Midlands police said it had not publicised its toilet cubicle initiative at Birmingham airport because the scheme is designed to be discreet.

