Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the average sentence was for those found guilty of female genital mutilation in each of the last five years.

Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and average custodial sentence lengths at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics

The table below provides the number of prosecutions over the past 5 years for offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. There have been no offenders sentenced to immediate custody during this period.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions were brought for female genital mutilation in each of the past five years.

Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and average custodial sentence lengths at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics

The table below provides the number of prosecutions over the past 5 years for offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. There have been no offenders sentenced to immediate custody during this period.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what publicity British embassies worldwide are undertaking to make clear the illegality of female genital mutilation in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The UK has a zero-tolerance approach for all forms of female genital mutilation (FGM) including medicalisation. There is no medical justification for FGM in any circumstances.

The Government's new strategy for tackling Violence against Women and Girls, published on 18 December, sets out the actions we are taking against so-called honour-based violence in the UK, including FGM. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will play its full part in the implementation of that strategy, including ensuring that our posts around the world are communicating its contents as appropriate through their work in each country.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have been stopped and arrested for attempting to take girls abroad for female genital mutilation in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime, it is child abuse, and it can destroy lives. On Thursday 18 December, we published the VAWG Strategy setting out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on the Government’s VAWG ambition, including on FGM.

The Home Office routinely collects and publishes data on police recorded crime that has been flagged as FGM. In the year ending March 2025, there were 109 FGM offences recorded by the police. We do not collect data on whether these cases involve a risk of FGM taking place abroad or within England and Wales. This data also only represents cases reported to and recorded by the police as FGM. For that reason, it does not reflect the true scale of the crime.

FGM is not confined to one group. It affects many communities and is carried out in various forms. That is why improving our understanding of the scale and nature of this horrific crime is essential to ensure there is adequate support available. Building on a feasibility study conducted by the University of Birmingham in 2024, the Home Office has commissioned a study this financial year to test the viability of producing a national prevalence estimate for FGM (and forced marriage).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of which ethnic minorities in the UK are more vulnerable to female genital mutilation.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime, it is child abuse, and it can destroy lives. On Thursday 18 December, we published the VAWG Strategy setting out the strategic direction and concrete actions to deliver on the Government’s VAWG ambition, including on FGM.

The Home Office routinely collects and publishes data on police recorded crime that has been flagged as FGM. In the year ending March 2025, there were 109 FGM offences recorded by the police. We do not collect data on whether these cases involve a risk of FGM taking place abroad or within England and Wales. This data also only represents cases reported to and recorded by the police as FGM. For that reason, it does not reflect the true scale of the crime.

FGM is not confined to one group. It affects many communities and is carried out in various forms. That is why improving our understanding of the scale and nature of this horrific crime is essential to ensure there is adequate support available. Building on a feasibility study conducted by the University of Birmingham in 2024, the Home Office has commissioned a study this financial year to test the viability of producing a national prevalence estimate for FGM (and forced marriage).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the asylum policies of the government of Germany on the number of Afghans seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government has not undertaken a formal assessment of the isolated impact of stricter asylum policy measures introduced by the German government as part of the ‘migrationswende’ on Afghan asylum claims in the UK.

Afghan asylum claims to the UK are down 8% (September – September) from 2024-2025.

The Government does monitor global migration trends closely, including illegal migration into the UK via Europe. We have enhanced our close cooperation with European partners on this shared challenge, including with Germany via our Joint Action Plan, as members of the Calais Group and via EU agencies such as Europol and Frontex.

On 17 November 2025, the Home Secretary announced new measures in the asylum policy statement to Parliament, with the aim of reducing the pull factors which underpin illegal migration to the UK. Many of these measures are comparable to European counterparts and will restore order and control to the UK asylum system via EU agencies via EU agencies.