Highgate School pupil's FGM speech at House of Commons

Simran Bodh, a year 13 pupil at Highgate School joined more than 200 members of the UK Youth Parliament to debate topics related to health on November 4.

The sitting was the 11th session of UK Youth Parliament at Westminster, where Simran represents the constituency of Brent.

"20,000 girls living in England have undergone FGM. 450 of these are my constituents under the age of 18 in Brent,” she said in her speech.

"To you they might be victims, but to me they are young girls who have their futures snatched from them. 

"I ask you as the House to come together and help these victims of FGM overcome the stigma and taboo they face on a daily basis."

Simran said that she was wearing red "in solidarity with the victims of FGM and this horrific practice". 

After the event, the 17-year-old said: "Standing in the House of Commons, speaking about such a prevalent issue, whilst we have the first British-Asian Prime minister, I felt so incredibly proud that I am part of a diverse youth lead by the emblem of diversity.

"FGM being a topic very specialised to minority communities is so close to my heart, as the borough I represent is one of the most diverse in the UK. 

"Speaking about this topic truly represented and spoke to my constituents."

In 2017, shock figures revealed that Brent had the highest number of newly reported cases of FGM in the capital.

The data from the NSPCC showed that there were 325 reported cases of FGM between April 2015 and April 2016 in Brent, the highest in London and the third highest in the country after Birmingham (435) and Bristol (385).

FGM, also called female circumcision, has been a criminal offence in the UK for 30 years, and in 2003 it also became a criminal offence for UK nationals to take their child abroad to have female genital mutilation.

Despite this, there is yet to be a successful prosecution for the offence.