Female Genital Mutilation

(asked on 23rd February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to FORWARD UK’s February 2021 report entitled Do No Harm: Lived Experiences and Impacts of FGM Safeguarding Policies and Procedures, if the Government will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the safeguarding approach for FGM in the UK.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 3rd March 2021

FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

The Government significantly strengthened the law in 2015 to improve protections for victims and those at risk. This included the introduction of a new safeguarding measure which compels certain professionals to report if they have encountered someone who appears to have been a victim of FGM and who is under the age of 18, regardless of what community they are from.

We are committed to ensuring that professionals take the right action to help protect those at risk of FGM and the Government provides free resources, including a resource pack, e-learning, statutory multi-agency guidance and a range of communication materials to ensure that they have the training and guidance they need to provide effective advice and support on this issue. Our Statement Opposing FGM is available in 11 different languages.

The Home Office has recently awarded emergency Covid-19 funding to charities which have so-called 'honour’-based abuse (which includes FGM) as the main or a core part of their remit, including £42,269 to The Vavengers, which supports survivors of FGM.

Over 600 FGM Protection Orders have been issued by the courts since they were introduced in 2015.

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