FGM is a major safeguarding issue for all young women in the UK. All schools, charities and youth organisations need to be very aware of the growing threat to young girls/women in the UK. As the demographic of the country changes there will be increasing numbers of girls who will face the threat of forced marriage at very young ages where they are then made pregnant and may die because their bodies are simply too young to survive the process of pregnancy and birth. Other girls are threatened by having their genitalia cut/sewn up etc to meet outdated cultural norms – these result in lifelong pain and deformity as well as at times death because of infection. It is obviously a very sensitive issue and many people wish to avoid hearing about it, but anyone who is a responsible adult in any educational or youth setting needs to be aware of it.