A colleague and I attended a webinar last week; ‘Protecting Women and Girls in the UK from Female Genital Mutilation’. During the session, we were reminded of the full impact and power of words when they are used without due consideration for how they will be received or the impact they will have on others.

It is often said that the tongue is the most powerful part of the human body because it has the power to wound the soul more than any other weapon on the planet. They have the capacity to traumatise and re-traumatise to unknown depths.

A practitioner, who described herself as an ‘expert in FGM’ publicly described the act of a parent committing/supporting the brutal act of FGM on a child, as coming from a position of ‘love’. This statement was abhorrent and shocking. It may have been more accurate and palatable to describe a parent/s consent or collusion to the torture of their child, as having come from a position of ‘ignorance’, ‘fear’ or ‘coercion’, but NOT ‘love’. This statement was immediately and in our opinion rightfully challenged by FGM survivor and activist Nimco Ali OBE, (CEO) of The Five Foundation.

As practitioners, we have a responsibility to choose and use our words wisely because once they are said they cannot be ‘unsaid or unheard’. We must not presume that when we consider ourselves as an ‘expert’, it becomes a shield of immunity or a licence to excuse what comes from our mouths when we should know better.

Sadly, challenges are frequently received as a personal attack on our credibility or fitness to instruct others rather than as an opportunity to be educated and to learn; there is no place for ego or pride when it comes to safeguarding children.

We can learn so much more by listening to the voices and challenges of individuals who are real ‘experts’ by experience and not become defensive. Every day we have the privilege and opportunity to learn something new and we can become more knowing, more compassionate and develop a stronger, more genuine respect for the children and adult survivors who have faced real-life struggles that they have endured and overcome.

Lin Sands

Police and Justice Lead

Mobile: 07415 458283

Office: 01332 585371

Email: [email protected]  

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