Training

 

Oxford Against Cutting has created a number of presentation/training packages about FGM and we have a skilled and experienced team to deliver them. Our training has been rolled out successfully for numerous groups including safeguarding leads, domestic abuse champions, police officers, social workers, teaching and pastoral staff at primary and secondary schools, student groups, domestic abuse workers, Home-School Link Workers and youth groups. The sessions are adapted for each group’s outcomes (for example, we include information about teaching materials for primary schools) and incorporate group work (for sessions over one hour). Our training has been well received with delegates gaining a marked increase in confidence in talking about FGM.

 

All our sessions are run by facilitators from FGM-affected communities and this makes our training “real”.

 

We can offer anti-FGM training for young people and professionals. The session can cover:

What is FGM?
The law
The harm
Prevalence
Why?
Warning signs that FGM might be planned
Warning signs that FGM may have occurred
Tools
Safeguarding
Mandatory reporting
Tips for talking to survivors
What we can do
Human rights messages
Designing campaigns
Helplines

 

We recommend a session for about 90 minutes including some short film footage (that is not graphic) and some discussion points. However we can adapt the training to a shorter time-frame as needed. For more information please contact us.

Here is a testimonial from Abigail Wycherley, the Violence Against Women and Girls Coordinator in the Oxfordshire Social & Community Services:

“A really rich and comprehensive learning experience. Having a facilitator from an FGM community is such a valuable aspect of the training. A massive well done to you and your team for providing such fascinating, enjoyable and effective training, even in just an hour lunch break”.

Read our Schools Training Evaluation Reports from July 2017 and February 2018 for more information about our impact.

Here is some feedback on our schools training:

“I have attended 9 anti-FGM safeguarding training sessions on FGM and OAC’s was by far the best” – Primary School Teacher in Milton Keynes

“Thank you for this, I found the training so useful and I will most definitely be passing this information on to all staff” – Reception Teacher at secondary school in Slough

“As we prepare to break up for the summer, I just wanted to thank you for the superb training provided by Leila and Kaddy. It was hard-hitting stuff and certainly made our staff aware of the short and long impact of FGM on women. We have displayed your posters around the school and will continue to have them up over the summer in our holiday play scheme. I have recommended your training to colleagues in other schools and will continue to do so – anything to spread the message and signpost survivors to support groups.” – Sandra Ottaway, Deputy Head, Caroline Haslett Primary School, Milton Keynes

“This training is very informative to us within the education sector and the facilitators who attend are often survivors who are more than willing to answer any questions, that in turn help us to gain a greater understanding to inform our students. Brilliant and so worth it.” – Nikkie Almond, Quality Lead – Student Engagement and Careers Leader, Abingdon College

“Very informative and engaging” – Behaviour and Inclusion Coordinator (special primary school in Slough)

“Extremely informative” – Teaching Assistant at primary school in Reading

“Attendees at NASUWT Conferences have reported excellent feedback from the workshops provided by Oxford Against Cutting.  The workshops  addressed this sensitive issue in a professional and informative manner.  Comments from students indicated the sessions were well received and very useful in helping them to identify warning signs in schools”. NASUWT, Teachers’ Union

Community groups

Oxford Against Cutting provides awareness-raising workshops for community groups, as well as training for professionals.

All our sessions are delivered by facilitators from affected communities.

We are pleased to have delivered anti-FGM workshops for many local groups including:

Oxford Nigerian Muslim group, Sudanese women’s group, East African women’s group, Gambian women’s group, National Citizenship Service groups, Banbury counsellors, Oxford City Amnesty International and East Oxford Woodcraft Folk, to name a few!

We have also participated in training events/conferences hosted by artist Hugh Palmer (“Hatched” art exhibition in Oxford 2017), Oxford University (conferences organised by Dr Tobe Levin), AFiUK, 28TooMany, the Department of Health, Sheila Kitzinger seminar at Green Templeton College, Integrate UK, FORWARD’s pan European conference, Tackling FGM in Schools, training for specialists hosted by the Chair of the FGM Operational Group in Oxford and Oxford University Gender Equality Society.

Examples of feedback on our sessions:

“It was really informative and interactive” (Amnesty International Oxford City member)

“Brilliant presentations! Kaddy was inspirational, eloquent and brave!” (Amnesty International Oxford City member)

“The group of young people we are working with were deeply affected and inspired to bring about more awareness of FGM. They have asked for more information!” (Oxfordshire Youth NCS Facilitator)

Please contact us to book a tailored, in-house session for your community group.

Oxford Against Cutting 2020 leaflet with details on all our workshops