Foreword by
Miriam Margolyes OBE

Foreword by Miriam Margolyes OBE

Let us be clear what this book is about – Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). A grim and ghastly practice which, must be totally outlawed. It is already illegal in the UK and should be stopped everywhere. FGM is a procedure traditionally carried out by a woman with no medical training. Anaesthetics and antiseptic treatments are not generally used and the practice is usually carried out using unsterilised sharp implements, many of them old and crude, leading to serious and often life-threatening infections.

There are no health benefits to FGM. Removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue interferes with the natural functions of girls’ and women’s bodies.

I wanted to lay out before you the unvarnished horror of this procedure, so that no one can be in any doubt of its brutality and perilous results.

But this is a tradition deeply embedded in the culture of many Asian, African and Middle Eastern nations. Authorities in the UK have become aware that schoolgirls are being sent home in the holidays to be cut, often by family members. These children have no idea of what they face when they leave the UK for their longed-for ‘African Adventure’.

This book shows what can happen to a perfectly normal immigrant family who have settled completely happily into the English way of life. It uses the clever device of showing parallel summer holidays: one the typical beach vacation – ice creams and children playing at the seaside. The other a seemingly magnificent visit to the ancestral African village, and what lies in wait for Katie, our heroine, as the ceremony for the cut is planned by her aunt.

All the characters are real and recognisable and fun, speaking like modern kids, full of life, joyous and naughty. The grown-ups, both in England and in Africa, are believable and likeable. Even Granny JoJo, the formidable ‘African queen’, has a depth and honesty which removes any taint of racist criticism from her.

It’s a good story, with a serious point. But the life and energy of the characters removes any didactic cloud from what is an essential problem, to be faced and extinguished. This book will help young people better understand what may be a very real threat to themselves, their sister or their friends, and offers suggestions of how they can get the help they may urgently need.