United to end female genital mutilation: an on line knowledge platform for professionals and public

Abstract

Introduction: An estimated of 500,000 women and girls in the European Union (EU) have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), with a further 180,000 at risk every year. Meeting the needs of these women and girls demands multidisciplinary action. This paper presents the United to End Female Genital Mutilation (UEFGM) knowledge platform, which is part of an EU-funded project. The platform is designed as a practice tool to improve the knowledge and skills of professionals who are likely to come into contact with women and girls affected by FGM.

Method: Literature review was applied in regard to FGM along with expert validation process for the development of the modules particularly the e-learning section, expert and stakeholders' meetings for the other pillars of the Platform.

Results: Three pillars were developed in the Platform: a) e-learning, b) country specific focus and c) live-knowledge discussion forum. The Platform explores related knowledge, skills, good practices, shared knowledge among professionals. UEFGM serves professionals and public as well in EU and worldwide.

Conclusion: UEFGM comprises e-learning with a country-specific focus and a live discussion forum in which knowledge is shared between professionals worldwide. UEFGM discusses FGM and all related matters in a culturally- and gender-sensitive manner. It is a unique multidisciplinary and multilingual educational resource that has been found useful in everyday practice.

摘要

引言:据估计, 欧洲联盟 (EU) 有50万妇女和女童遭受过女性生殖器切割(FGM), 每年还有18万人面临这种危险。要满足这些妇女和女童的需要, 需要采取多学科行动。本文介绍了联合终止女性生殖器切割 (UEFGM) 知识平台, 该平台是欧盟资助项目的一部分。其旨在作为一种实践工具, 提高可能接触到受女性生殖器切割影响的妇女和女童的专业人员的知识和技能。

方法：对女性生殖器切割方面进行文献综述, 并对模块开发进行专家验证过程, 特别是作为平台其他支柱的电子学习部分、专家和利益相关者会议。

结果：该平台形成了三大支柱：a)电子学习, b)国别聚焦, c)实时知识讨论论坛。该平台探索相关知识、技能、良好实践以及专业人士之间的知识共享。UEFGM为欧盟和世界各地的专业人士和公众提供服务。

结论：UEFGM包括以特定国家为重点的电子学习和一个全球专业人员可以共享知识的实时讨论论坛。UEFGM以对文化和性别敏感的方式讨论女性生殖器切割和所有相关事项。它是一种独特的多学科、多语言的教育资源, 在日常实践中非常有用。

Keywords:

• Education
• female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)
• professionals
• training

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the partners and associate partners of the UEFGM project for their professionalism, expertise and support. Partners: Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (Cyprus); Portuguese Family Planning Association; Italian Association for Women in Development; National Network of Migrant Women (Ireland); Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (UK); Intact (Belgium); Group for the Abolition of Female Genital Mutilation (Belgium); Excision, Parlons-en! (France); End FGM European Network (Belgium); Medicos del Mundo (Spain); Terre des Femmes (Germany). Associate partners: European Police Academy; European Midwives Association; European Network of Migrant Women; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Global Learning Centre – Protection Unit, Bureau for Europe). The authors also thank the external evaluator of the project and all external experts and stakeholders of this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers, under grant JUST/2014/RPRI/AG/FGMU/6983.