Campaigners rallied in Southwark Park on February 6 to raise awareness and protest against FGM.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured or changed, but there is no medical reason for this to be done.
“I know from first-hand experience living in Bermondsey that it can be a difficult topic to talk about in public,” said chair of the Bermondsey Residents Association Shelia Taylor. “But it is vital to talk about it.”
“Please support the women who suffer this dreadful practice,” she added.
The “walk through the park” was in aid of the United Nation’s International Day of Zero Tolerance against Female Genital Mutilation, which is seeking to end the practice by 2030.
It was organised by Naima Ali, a local FGM campaigner who does a lot of training and advocacy work in hospitals and schools.
Councillors, members of the community and other parties who are concerned about the practice attended the event.
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FGM is practised by certain religious or ethnic groups, although a lot depends on their location and socio-economic background.
The procedure can result in death through severe bleeding leading to haemorrhagic shock, neurogenic shock as a result of pain and trauma, and overwhelming infection and septicaemia.
One in ten girls in Southwark were born to mothers who have undergone FGM, according to the human rights organisation Equality Now.
They estimate that 4.7% of women in the borough have had the procedure.