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UK FGM survivors forced to fund own treatment after being told to wait for 'more research’ · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Professor Jasmine Abdul Kadir is performing surgery, but to her patient,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: this is more than just a medical procedure. It's the
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: most important part of a long journey to help overcome
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: deep trauma inflicted on her as a young child. Is
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: The patient is a woman in her late thirties to
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: mid forties, originally from Somalia, she now lives here in Switzerland.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: As a young girl, she was subjected to female genital mutilation.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: We've been given rare access to film this FGM reconstruction
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: surgery by Professor Abdul Kadir. She's one of the world's
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: leading experts in this field.
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  Speaker 2: There are several types of female and mutilation, so the
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: tissues involved might be diverse. It can be the laba,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: the clittories, and the cutting might be more or less severe,
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  Speaker 2: so there are different types of surgeries.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: This patient has had type three FGM in fibrillation. It's
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: the most severe form where all part of the external
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: female genitalia has been removed, the vaginal opening has been
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: sewn shot, or the scar tissue has fused together after
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: being cut. These cases require deinmfibrillation or reopening.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: It means to avoid suffering when they pee, when they
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  Speaker 2: have period in their daily life, when they study, when
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  Speaker 2: they work, that when they take care of their families.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: It means to be healthy in their daily life. It
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: means so to be socially healthy, happier. It means to
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: enjoy sex with their partners, means a change of life.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Her vaginal passage was partially reopened in the past, probably
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: during childbirth.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Sensitive nerves that have also branches of the cavernous nerves.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Today she is chosen to undergo colateral reconstruction.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: We have patients that might not be interested in reconstruction,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: that they already feel well sexually healthy, and other patients
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: that suffer from severe trauma that are unhappy with their
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: body image, and so they will ask for reconstruction. Some
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: of them will go for surgery, some others will not
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: go for surgery. I think it's important to offer different
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: possibilities depending on the needs of the patient. And as
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: you said, it's a huge journey just calling to take
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: the appointments. Some patients say, I didn't sleep yesterday. I
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: have thought about this appointment for several months. It's only
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: a few months ago that I decided to call. Because
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  Speaker 2: it's a subject that is taboo.
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  Speaker 1: The World Health Organization estimates that more than two hundred
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  Speaker 1: and thirty million women and girls alive today have undergone
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  Speaker 1: female genital mutilation across thirty countries in Africa, Asia, and
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the Middle East. It's mostly carried out on girls under
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: the age of fifteen. In twenty fifteen, it was estimated
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: that around one hundred and thirty seven thousand women and
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: girls were living with FGM in England and Wales, and
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: between that report and twenty twenty three, FGM was identified
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: in a total of over eighty seven thousand attendances at
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  Speaker 1: NHS trusts and GP practices, and the real numbers are
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: thought to be much higher. Unimaginable cruelty deliberately inflicted on young.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Girls mame eleta anti plasma. Every girl who came in
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: came out crying, screaming. I didn't want to go in,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: but they forced me. And when I went in, she
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  Speaker 3: cut me with a blade. I jumped from the pain.
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: All the girls were crying. I didn't want to but
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: they forced me.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: This is one of Professor Abdulkader's patients. Jamilla that's not
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: her real name, is still recovering after undergoing FGM reconstruction
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: surgery last month.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: I was angry because I was just a child. She
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: had already made the decision, but I was angry furious
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  Speaker 3: with her. When I was growing up, she was always
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: around and I confront her and asked her why. She said,
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: it's our culture. We have to do it for the girls.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: As a six year old girl in West Africa, she
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: was tricked by one of her father's wives. Jamilla thought
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: she was going to the market to buy sweets. Instead,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: she was dragged into a cutter's house where she was mutilated.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: For me, honestly, it was exhausting. I didn't want to
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  Speaker 3: have to heal from it. Afterwards. They said that after
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: one or two weeks they would have a celebration, but
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: I wasn't feeling well at all physically mentally. I always
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: think about it. It's something that never leaves you. You
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: think about it all the time.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Professor Abdul Kadir's team c between twenty to thirty FGM
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  Speaker 1: survivors a month here at Geneva's University Hospital. Not all
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  Speaker 1: of them will opt for reconstructive surgery, but the ones
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: who do can access it on the country's healthcare system.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: FGM reconstruction surgery is available across Europe, including here in Switzerland,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: as well as in clinics in France and in Germany,
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  Speaker 1: but in the UK the procedure is not available on
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  Speaker 1: the NHS, meaning many British FGM survivors must travel abroad
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: for health. Campaigners say that must change. The demand for
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: the surgery in the UK is growing. Juliette Alberts is
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: a specialist's midwife who runs a busy FGM clinic in
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  Speaker 1: West London offering treatment and support to survivors.
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  Speaker 4: We do find women coming to our clinic saying they
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: want reconstruction surgery and we have to say sorry, we
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: don't offer it here. Some of them will seek out
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  Speaker 4: going to have it done in another country, perhaps which
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: is obviously very costly, and some of them don't manage
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: to get any support for that. It may be because
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: they've got long term genital pain, or it might be
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: a body image concern, so women say things like I
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  Speaker 4: just want to be whole, or I want to put
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  Speaker 4: back what was taken away.
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  Speaker 1: A Parliamentary committee warned that if GM survivors face shame
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and humiliation when trying to access care, it's called on
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  Speaker 1: the NHS to provide reconstruction surgery, echoing demands from midwives
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  Speaker 1: and campaigners.
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  Speaker 5: In an idle situation, it would be available to everybody
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  Speaker 5: on everybody's doorstep. But FGM isn't a problem in every
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: part of our country, but it is a problem in
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  Speaker 5: certain parts of our country, and I think that we
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: need to be able to prioritize those areas where the
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: need is highest, to ensure that people get the surgery
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  Speaker 5: and the support that they need as quickly as possible.
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: The research isn't into the merits of reconstructive surgery, the
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: research is into where the need is greatest.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Can we put a timeline on it? When can FGM
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: survivors in this country expect to have access to reconstruction
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: surgery on the NHS.
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: I would want to see that as soon as possible.
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  Speaker 5: I want GPS to have better understanding of FGM and
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: reconstructive surgery. I want people to know that this is
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: still an issue for so many women within our communities.
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  Speaker 5: And lastly, I want the government, and I think that
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: they are now taking this seriously and putting some action
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: behind the words that we've heard for decade now.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: The Department for Health and Social Care told Sky News.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: The NHS runs FGM clinics, which provide healthcare services and
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: emotional and psychological support for victims. We're also facilitating further
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: research into the effectiveness of reconstructive surgery for FGM survivors
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: through the National Institute for Health and Care Research Techanici
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: de de vieg FGM reconstruction surgery cannot erase the violence
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: or the pain, but it can offer something many survivors
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: feared they would never have, and that is the chance
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: to reclaim their bodies after a lifetime of trauma. Alshi's
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: Joshi Sky News in Geneva, Switzerland,