Play will ask professionals to think about how they deal with female genital mutilation

Olive Branch Arts Performers

Questions about how professionals working with children respond to suspected cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) will be raised in Bloodlines, a challenging interactive play being brought to Greater Manchester this week.

The play will be staged at two locations in Manchester on 9 and 10 March as part of a full day’s training for school staff, social workers, children’s centre workers and other professionals. It is being hosted by the National FGM Centre, a collaboration between children’s charity Barnardo’s and the Local Government Association.

In the morning specialist performers from Olive Branch Arts will bring to life some of the challenges facing professionals. They will help the audience to look at FGM through different perspectives and discuss how to identify potential victims and early warning signs, and how to start conversations with parents and carers.

In the afternoon the focus will shift to consider strategic efforts to tackle FGM, and the team will share learning from cases that have resulted in medical examinations of girls and FGM protection orders.

Sonita Pobi, Head of Training for Barnardo’s at the National FGM Centre: “Bloodlines is a really powerful piece that brings to life some of the difficult issues that confront professionals every day, such as how to recognise and respond to a possible case of female genital mutilation. I hope many professionals working with children in Greater Manchester will join us this week so we can challenge one another and think about the best ways to support young people who may have experienced or be at risk of experiencing the trauma of FGM.”

The training days run from 9.30am to 4.30pm, with the theatre production in the morning and learning seminar in the afternoon.

There are several places still available on these sessions.

To book, visit http://training.manchesterscb.org.uk/. For more information please email sonita.pobi@barnardos.org.uk