A campaigner is calling on more to be done to reduce FGM (female genital mutilation) and child marriage.

Arifa Nasim, from Marlowe Road, Walthamstow, has launched a campaign to get the Government to review how schools monitor and deal with these cases.

The 18-year-old is a founder of Youth for Change, a global movement highlighting the importance of youth voices and issues.

The organisation, founded last year, is launching a campaign to get Education Secretary Nicky Morgan to order a review of the training received by teachers about the dangerous practices, which affect an estimated 17,000 girls in the UK.

Arifa said: “Our research shows that there is a massive gap between what teachers know and what students think they know.

“94 per cent of young people don’t think staff in their school know about FGM and child marriage.

“If young people don’t think their teachers will understand their situation they will not come forward.

“Establishing schools as a safe space where students can come forward and teachers feel confident enough to deal with the issues young people face is vital”.

The #traintoprotect campaign is running a petition on change.org to demand that Ms Morgan take action.

Arifa has been campaigning in Waltham Forest on forced marriage since she was 14.

She is the founder of Educate2Eradicate, an organisation that delivers safeguarding training locally on these issues, and recently represented Youth For Change as the UK Youth Delegate to the UN.

Members of Youth For Change, based in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Bangladesh as well as the UK, have represented young people at many events including the international Girl Summit, held by the UK government in July 2014, and international nursing conference in September 2015.

For more information http://www.youthforchange.org