UTS public health social scientist Professor Angela Dawson is spearheading the development of a unique parenting program that will help address the problem of FGM within Australia's migrant and refugee communities.
The parenting program will be co-designed with input from community members. Photo: istock.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a pervasive cultural practice affecting an estimated 230 million women and girls worldwide, with about 5 million at risk each year. In Australia, it’s estimated that 50,000 women are affected and although illegal, the practice is known to persist through clandestine means or by families taking their daughters overseas for the procedure.
This is the cohort Professor Angela Dawson hopes to engage with her new project - Best Beginnings for Baby (BeBB) – a co-designed parenting program to prevent FGM, which has received funding of approximately $1M from the Department of Health and Aged Care.
“Our project aims to fill a critical gap by developing a program for expectant parents from FGM-practicing communities who have recently arrived in Australia, either as new migrants or refugees,” explains Prof Dawson.
“Importantly, the project will be co-designed with input from parents who originally come from FGM practicing communities but who’ve actively chosen to abandon the practice,” she adds.
The curriculum, which is not solely focused on FGM prevention but also enhancing overall parenting skills and health literacy, will include mentorship, where the experienced parents guide new arrivals, providing them with essential information about how to navigate the Australian health system and find a social support network.
Depending on its cultural context, FGM is performed in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons, but Prof Dawson says there is never a therapeutic or medical justification for it.
“These reasons include rites of passage rituals, marriageability, or misguided notions of hygiene and aesthetic beauty,” Prof Dawson continues.
“The most serious risks range from haemorrhage and death, to infection, to long-term consequences such as chronic pain, menstrual issues, obstructed labour, and psychological trauma.”
Our project aims to fill a critical gap by developing a program for expectant parents from FGM-practicing communities who have recently arrived in Australia, either as new migrants or refugees
Professor Angela Dawson, UTS Health
With a primary focus on improving maternal and child health care, Prof Dawson's career has taken her to Africa, Asia, and the Pacific where she has worked and volunteered in diverse cultural contexts. This experience has equipped her with a deep understanding of the complex health challenges faced by women and girls in different countries. Her journey into combating FGM began during her work in the Gambia, where she encountered the practice for the first time and assisted a local NGO in prevention efforts.
“From my experience, our most significant challenge will be to ensure our parenting program is deeply embedded in community networks,” says Prof Dawson who will be developing the pilot with an advisory panel including colleagues from NSW Education Program for FGM and Cohealth in Victoria, as well as local health districts.
“We aim to run the pilot by the end of 2024 in Sydney and Melbourne, and will then measure its success using a set of indicators to refine and improve the curriculum before we focus on a broader rollout and national training,” she says.
The ultimate aim of this two-year project will be to create a self-sustaining initiative owned and continuously undertaken by partner organisations. All resources will be freely accessible online, including curricula and training guides, and while it will be impossible to quantify the exact number of FGM cases prevented, the program will monitor participants' knowledge, attitudes, and intentions regarding FGM, as well as parents’ overall growth in self-esteem, health literacy, and social connections.
As the only parenting program targeting the eradication of FGM in this type of population in the world, Prof Dawson also hopes this work has far-reaching implications. She plans to share findings through academic papers and conferences, hoping to inspire similar programs in countries like the UK and Canada. "We would be very happy for our international colleagues to use and tailor these resources to their own contexts and needs," she says.