Fahma Mohamed, 19, who will be a doctor of law, is one of the youngest people in the UK to receive the honorary degree, which will be presented by Bristol University.From when she first heard about the practice of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) from a teacher at the age of 14, Fahma Mohamed started to challenge its practice, one that studies estimate affects up to 137,000 women and girls in the UK alone.‘I remember being in complete shock. I’m from an FGM affected community. Why didn’t anyone talk about it? Why isn’t anyone doing anything to stop it? Then I tried to put myself in their position. I couldn’t.’Fahma – alongside other members of the youth charity Integrate Bristol – met with the education secretary, Michael Gove, to ask him to write to every school in the country about the horrors of FGM.After months of meetings with FGM activists and campaigners, filming, planning, negotiating and reporting, Fahma launched the campaign on 6 February, the UN’s day to mark zero-tolerance of FGM. The Guardian reported that despite almost three decades of legislation against FGM, which is thought to affect 66,000 women in England and Wales, while 24,000 girls under 15 are thought to be at risk, those working on the ground were warning that the brutal practice was still happening to British children.Miss Mohamed is trustee of Integrate Bristol, an organization working, among other things, to eradicate FGM. Along with colleagues she spearheaded a petition campaign that collected over 230,000 signatures and earned the support of Malala Yousefzai and UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon. The campaign resulted in mandatory training for all education staff on FGM.‘We are still fighting for awareness on FGM to be taught in all classrooms across the UK. So many girls, both in the UK and further afar, are going through this absolutely traumatic experience. I saw it as my responsibility to give a voice to these young girls, many of whom have no support system and suffer entirely alone. ’Miss Mohamed identifies as a human rights defender, seeing it as a means to give voice to victims and encourage and empower other women and girls to voice their own opposition to FGM.(https://ishr.ch/…/fahma-mohamed-british-anti-fgm-human…/)#islamopobiaawarenessmonth#saynotoracism#elrec#edinburgh#islamophobiainscotland
Planting & Growing Sessions
Panting & Growing Sessions at the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens Interested in learning more about planting & growing? Join our free, educational sessions. They will
