Two Ministry of Health-funded workshops were held in Dunedin yesterday on female circumcision, a cultural practice which is illegal in New Zealand.
Co-ordinator Melissa Powell, of Auckland, said the workshops, to educate health professionals to care for women who had had the procedure, had not been held outside Auckland previously.
Workshops were also being held in Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.
Mrs Powell said there was no evidence the practice happened in New Zealand. However, it was likely more refugees would be accepted from Africa because of the number of people waiting in camps because of civil unrest, thus the number of people affected by the practice entering the country could rise.
At present, New Zealand's yearly quota of 750 refugees tended not to be from countries where the practice was prevalent.
More than 20 people attended the Dunedin workshops, with one for child protection professionals and one for general health workers. Medical and midwifery students were among those attending.
