Supporting clients affected by Female Genital Cutting/Circumcision (FGM/C)

This interactive webinar, presented by Family Planning Victoria, is for clinical Health Professionals to improve their knowledge and skills to support clients affected by FGM/C (Female genital mutilation/cutting.

This session will provide health professionals with the confidence and knowledge to work in a culturally safe way with patients who are affected by FGM/C.

The session will cover cultural considerations and safety when asking patients if they have experienced FGM/C including the clinical skills to undertake an assessment of the vulva. This will also be explored using a clinical case study. 

Information about referral pathways and resources will be provided. 

Learning outcomes:

• Define Female Genital Cutting/Circumcision  
• Discuss culturally safe and appropriate ways to ask if clients have been affected by FGM/C  
• Apply clinical tools and pathways to support clients affected by traditional cutting  

SPEAKERS

Dr Sara Whitburn, General Practitioner

Dr Sara Whitburn is a general practitioner and Medical Educator with Family Planning Victoria. 

She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practice (FRACGP) and holds Diplomas in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Family Planning. She has a special interest in vulvovaginal health and is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Vulvovaginal Society. Sara is passionate about quality sexual and reproductive healthcare throughout a person's lifespan. 

Nigisti Mulholland, Nurse-Midwife & Social Worker

Nigisti Mulholland is a Family and Reproductive Rights Education Program (FARREP) Coordinator at the Royal Women’s Hospital. She began her career in Ethiopia and in 1980 fled to Sudan as a refugee where she worked for Save the Children Fund UK providing midwifery services for two refugee camps. In 1982, she firstly resettled to the USA and then to Melbourne where she worked as a nurse and studied social sciences, obtaining an honor’s in sociology at La Trobe University. Later she completed a master’s degree in social work at Monash University. Nigisti has worked on many projects, mostly concerning immigrant and refugee women and children's health, including Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) from the Horn of Africa.

Marie, Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife & Nurse Immuniser

Marie is a Associate Nurse/ Midwife Unit Manager in the Women’s Health Clinics and The African Women’s Clinic at The Royal Women’s Hospital Melbourne. Marie has a Post Graduate in Public Health (Sexual Health) and is currently studying Masters of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner). Her nursing training was at St Vincent’s Melbourne and my midwifery training at The Women’s. I found my niche in women’s health and have now worked at the Women’s for well over 30 years. I have worked in many areas and up until last November was in the Emergency Department and working in the African Women’s Clinic (AWC) one day a week. I now work in the Women’s Clinic in a variety of areas, the AWC, Dysplasia, triaging and gynecology management.