The Guardian:

A 17-year-old student is calling on Michael Gove to help end female genital mutilation in Britain by asking headteachers to train and inform teachers and parents about the horrors of the practice.

Fahma Mohamed is urging the education secretary to write to the leaders of all primary and secondary schools, urging them to flag up the dangers of female genital mutilation (FGM) before the summer holidays, when girls are at the greatest risk. An estimated 66,000 women and girls in the UK have been the victims of FGM.

As the face of the Guardian's new campaign to have FGM recognised as a key government priority, Mohamed, one of nine daughters in a Muslim Somali family that came to Britain when she was seven, believes Gove could do more to help curtail the barbaric practice.

She adds her voice to a broad coalition of global charities and campaigners who have joined with the Guardian to urge Gove to act. Supporters can add their names to a petition on the Change.org campaigning website. "If every single headteacher was given the right information, we could reach every single girl who is at risk of FGM," said Fahma, from Bristol. "We could convince these families not to send their daughters abroad and help those girls at risk."...

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