The Kids Reach Shield Program was created to educate police officers, school nurses and teachers in the United States about the practice of Female genital mutilation (FGM) and its consequences. Additionally, it provides these frontline personnel with resources to support FGM victims through the stages of prevention, protection, and prosecution. It is pertinent that these frontline personnel have knowledge about FGM in order for them to help safeguard girls by identifying the risk factors, occurrences, confirming their suspicions, and determining when to take action. Through sound and effective procedures, these frontline professionals can take action to safeguard potential victims, investigate offenses, and bring justice to perpetrators. By emphasizing the importance of immediate assistance to the victim and encouraging the use of proper procedures to respectfully investigate, this program provides guidance to the various roles police officers, teachers and school nurses can perform to encourage the cessation of FGM.
The Components of the Kids Reach Shield Program are the following:
- Education & Information
- Understanding of the Practice
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Resources