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BBC Three HD

BBC Three

Zawe Ashton

Claire McFall

Kieran Smith

Sam Bickley

Love Productions

Stop Cutting Our Girls: A Comic Relief Special

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

11/03/2015

BBC Three - Stop Cutting Our Girls: A Comic Relief SpecialSearch BBC

Zawe Ashton attempts to uncover the truth about FGM in the UK and abroad.

Zawe Ashton leads a hard-hitting investigation to uncover the truth about FGM in the UK and abroad, meeting courageous women fighting to end the practice.

Three million girls are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) across Africa every year and, believe it or not, a further 65,000 are at risk here in the UK.

In this documentary, Zawe Ashton leads a hard-hitting investigation to uncover the truth about FGM in the UK and abroad, meeting courageous women fighting to end the practice along the way.

Starting her journey in east London, Zawe goes back to school to join an FGM workshop run by straight-talking teenagers. As she realises how hard it can be for kids to talk about female body parts, Zawe begins to see why FGM isn't an easy topic to broach.

FGM survivors, including Nimco Ali and Leyla Hussein, recall their memories of being cut, and reveal to Zawe that there is code of silence that comes from deep within the FGM-practicing community. Zawe learns that speaking out hasn't been easy, as Nimco and Leyla describe the violent backlash they continue to endure.

A shocking discovery that British girls are flown abroad during 'cutting season' - the school holidays - to undergo FGM takes Zawe to Gatwick Airport. Here Zawe sees Border Force officers, who have the tricky job of intercepting parents whose children may be at risk, in action.

Ready to embark on the next leg of her journey, Zawe travels 4,000 miles to Kenya. Landing in Nairobi, she tracks down a 'cutter' - a woman who admits to illegally cutting British children for money.

Finding the frank discussion difficult to take in, Zawe heads south to Narok, where up to 95 per cent of girls have undergone FGM in traditional Maasai tribes. Surprisingly, Narok is also home to one of the world's leading anti-FGM campaigners, Agnes Pareyio. Agnes runs a rescue centre for girls who rebel against FGM. The centre gives the girls a safe home, food, clothes and an education.
 
A desperate call from a mother, whose daughter is due to be cut and married off, sees Zawe accompany Agnes on a rescue mission in the middle of the night. During her time in Narok, Zawe sees teenage girls reunited with the families they once ran away from and hears conflicting desires from Maasai men when it comes to FGM.

Throughout her journey, Zawe sees that change is happening and the cycle of FGM is being broken. Education is helping to empower girls and the driving force comes from many incredible survivors simply determined to give girls a better future.

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