The Vavengers go to the House of Lords

To address the healthcare inequalities experienced by FGM/C survivors with NHS Chiefs

The Vavengers Team and Campaign Ambassadors, Baroness Rosie Boycott, and Sabrina Elba

On Monday, The Vavengers team presented a healthcare inequalities report at the House of Lords. The report highlighted the healthcare inequalities faced by survivors of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the UK.

The team called upon NHS Chief Nursing Officer for England, Dame Ruth May and the office of NHS Chief Executive Officer Amanda Pritchard to deliver on three critical solutions: adding a question about FGM/C on patient registration forms, offering long-term mental health support and providing reconstructive surgery for survivors.

The roundtable lunch meeting was co-chaired by our CEO Sema Gornall and the report researched and presented by our Communications & Campaigns Manager Ellie Melvin. Dr Leyla Hussein OBE, Dr Jasmine Abdulcadir, Huda Mohamed and Hoda Ali gave their expertise as healthcare professionals alongside the report.

“I feel I have a responsibility, a moral duty, to speak out about something that is abusive towards children.” - Sabrina Elba

The roundtable lunch meeting, hosted by Baroness Rosie Boycott, secured the endorsement of CEO, model and activist Sabrina Elba, and marked the launch of our One Question Campaign to address FGM/C data poverty in the UK. The team hopes this will kickstart some real change to improve the health and lives of survivors.

The Vavengers are now building a change-making board to support the NHS with the execution plan of our three key asks to mitigate healthcare inequalities as outlined in the report. The Vavengers have already secured Dr Leyla Hussein OBE and Campaign Ambassador Sabrina Elba on the board, and the ongoing meetings will be co-chaired by our CEO and Patron.

We are now in the recruitment process to onboard prominent healthcare leaders and other House of Lords representatives.

Our sector celebration reception with over 80 partner organisations in attendance

Following our meeting at the House of Lords with the NHS Chiefs, we held a sector reception at our workplace, to celebrate this win as a collective one. We know that we are only able to make the impact we are making thanks to the tireless efforts of our partners and the organisations and activists who came before us.

You can find the full report delivered at the House of Lords on 22nd May here.

Credits

Photographer: Stephen Gornall

Blog author: Ellie Melvin