I'm a survivor of female genital mutilation. We must get serious about ending this practice

I am a survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM). I know that the consequences do not end with the act itself. They live on in the body, in reproductive health challenges, in trauma responses, and in the way many women struggle to trust systems that were not designed with them in mind. For years, I carried my experience quietly not because it did not matter, but because I did not know where to go for help.

That absence of support is why I founded Women of Grace UK. I created it to support women who were in the position I once found myself in isolated, unsure who to speak to, and navigating trauma without a safe space to be heard. Women of Grace UK is survivor-led, because survivors understand the gaps that policy alone cannot fill. We provide advocacy, education and trauma-informed support, while working closely with safeguarding partners to ensure women and girls are protected, not overlooked.

A recent academic discussion in a medical ethics journal has caused deep concern among survivors of FGM and those working to end the practice. While the argument itself does not merit repetition, the wider issue it exposes very much does. When harmful practices are reframed or softened through professional or academic language, the consequences can reach far beyond the page affecting attitudes, policy, and ultimately the safety of girls and women.

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FGM is not a theoretical issue. It is a form of child abuse and violence against women and girls. In the UK, it is estimated that over 200,000 women are living with the consequences of FGM, and around 60,000 girls under the age of 15 are considered at risk. These figures, drawn from NHS and safeguarding data, represent real people, daughters, mothers, neighbours, many of whom are navigating lifelong physical and psychological harm in silence.

Over the past decade, the UK has made significant strides. FGM is illegal, there are mandatory reporting duties for professionals, and safeguarding frameworks now recognise it as serious harm. NHS trusts record FGM data, schools are trained to spot risk indicators, and police, border force, and community organisations increasingly work together to prevent girls from being taken abroad for cutting. This progress has not come easily it has been driven by survivor voices, grassroots advocacy, and years of campaigning.

That is why narratives that appear to minimise or reframe FGM are so dangerous. When harm is presented as culturally negotiable or ethically ambiguous, it risks undermining the clarity that safeguarding depends on. For professionals already navigating complex cultural dynamics, mixed messaging can create hesitation. For communities, it can reinforce silence. And for survivors, it can feel like a fresh erasure of lived pain.

National conversations about FGM cannot be detached from lived reality. Survivors are not abstract case studies; they are experts by experience. When academic or professional debates ignore this, they risk doing real harm. Language matters. How we describe violence shapes how seriously it is taken and whether those affected feel believed or dismissed.

At a time when safeguarding relies on trust between communities and institutions, clarity is essential. The message must remain unambiguous: FGM causes harm, it violates human rights, and it has no place in any society. Anything that blurs this line threatens to undo years of progress and places girls at risk of being forgotten in the name of intellectual debate.

This is not about shutting down discussion. It is about responsibility. With authority comes impact, and with effects comes accountability. Survivors deserve to see their experiences reflected truthfully, not reframed in ways that sanitise suffering.

If we are serious about ending FGM, we must centre those most affected. We must listen to survivors, support community-led solutions, and protect the safeguards that exist to keep girls safe. Silence, ambiguity, and misplaced neutrality have never protected anyone. Clarity does. Listening does. And survivor-led action does.

Valerie Lolomari is the founder of Women of Grace UK.

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