Consultation on Barnet's strategy for tackling harmful practices such as FGM and forced marriage

You can read more about this consultation here.

We asked

We asked about your awareness of harmful practices and the related services available. We wanted to understand how Barnet residents are affected by harmful practices and how to improve the support we provide. Harmful practices are discriminatory practices committed regularly over such long periods of time that communities and societies begin to consider them acceptable. Harmful practices can include female genital mutilation, honour-based violence, forced marriage, breast flattening and abuse linked to faith or belief.

You said

13% told us that you know someone who has been affected by harmful practices, showing it is affecting our communities. You told us that your main priority was education is schools (95% of respondents) and that it was important that we build confidence in communities to report abuse. You told us you are most comfortable contacting the police (52%) and least comfortable contacting the voluntary, community and faith sector (8%).

We did

We’ve implemented our strategy to address harmful practices in Barnet. This has included training for multi-agency frontline practitioners (across education, health, police, council and the voluntary, community and faith sector) to improve understanding about harmful practices and how to provide effective support. We held an event with young people and guest speakers to raise awareness about different kinds of harmful practices. We have worked with schools to share information about harmful practices so teachers are better equipped to identify and respond to harmful practices.