Campaigners are trying their best to save a pioneering clinic for victims of female genital mutiliation (FGM) after council and health chiefs decided to stop its funding.
According to a report in the Evening Standard, the Action African Well Woman Centre, which has done FGM reversal surgery on about 500 women and helped hundreds more since it opened in 2007, is due to shut at the end of March.
It follows a decision by Ealing council, which funded an advocacy service there, and the Imperial College Healthcare Trust, which provided a midwife, to end support, the media report said.
Midwives and campaigners insist the Acton centre has been providing a unique service that allows newly wed or engaged women to have their FGM reversed.
The midwives and campaigners have begun a petition calling for the clinic to be saved.
A document from the campaigners quoted in the media report says: “We often see women that have never spoken about their FGM before and do not feel that they can discuss FGM with their GP, and they frequently reveal that they have suffered years of urinary tract infections and painful sexual intercourse prior to accessing our service. The community setting is very important as this is easily accessible and word of mouth brings women from all over London and the UK to our clinic.”
