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 Britain's first FGM app, "Petals", presents facts and information
about the practice, offers a quiz to test the user's knowledge and
provides details on where young girls can receive help - including a
direct link to an FGM advice line.
FGM involves the partial or total removal of external genitalia and
can cause serious physical and psychological problems and
complications in childbirth.
Some girls are at risk of being subjected to FGM, which is often
seen as a gateway to marriage and a way of preserving a girl's
purity, when their parents take them abroad during school holidays
to visit extended family, British security forces say.
"Everyone has the right to live their life free from the fear of
violence and abuse, and without experiencing the lasting trauma of
female genital mutilation," Nicky Morgan, Britain's minister for
women and equalities, said.
"We need to raise awareness of this barbaric practice and ensure
people know it is unacceptable and illegal," she added in a
statement ahead of an event in Westminster to launch the app, which
was developed at the University of Coventry.
The app was released a month after British Prime Minister David
Cameron announced plans to fast-track new FGM protection orders in
time for the school summer holidays in Britain.
The new legislation would see people suspected of trying to take a
girl abroad for FGM asked to surrender their passport and travel
documents, while those who breach the orders could face up to five
years in prison.
The app, which is primarily aimed at girls and young women who are
at risk from FGM, can be accessed on devices including smartphones
and tablets, or a laptop, via an internet browser.
It has been designed to safeguard potentially vulnerable users by
protecting their anonymity and making them untraceable.
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An estimated 137,000 women and girls in England and Wales have
undergone FGM, and some 66,000 girls may be at risk of the ritual.
It is practiced by various ethnic minority communities in Britain,
such as Somalis, Eritreans, Sudanese and Egyptians.
FGM has been a criminal offence in Britain since 1985, but new
legislation in 2003 introduced a maximum prison sentence of 14 years
and made it an offence for British citizens to carry out or procure
FGM abroad, even in countries where it is legal.
British border force officers have since stepped up surveillance of
airline passengers flying to and from countries which practise FGM,
including Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
(Reporting by Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Ros Russell. Please credit
the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson
Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking,
corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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