Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received about female genital mutilation education being taught in schools; and from whom.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and it is illegal. Services, including schools, should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse.
Schools are able to teach about FGM as part of non-statutory personal, social, health and economic education.
By the end of secondary education, pupils should have been taught about FGM. Schools should address the physical and emotional damage caused by FGM. Pupils should be taught where to find support and that it is a criminal offence to perform or assist in the performance of FGM or fail to protect a person for whom one is responsible from FGM. Pupils may also need support to recognise when relationships (including family relationships) are unhealthy or abusive (including the unacceptability of neglect, emotional, sexual and physical abuse, honour-based violence and forced marriage) and strategies to manage this or access support for oneself or others at risk. All teaching for these subjects should be age and developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the needs of the pupil, including ensuring that no pupil feels stigmatised. Schools should work closely with the local community and key partners, such as school nurses, and draw on local health data when planning their teaching for any aspect of these subjects. Teaching about FGM will not be in isolation but as part of a wider context of positive relationships, health and mental wellbeing. The focus on ensuring pupils know how to get further help should be threaded throughout these subjects.
The statutory guidance for these subjects was developed as part of a call for evidence and public consultation, and the government’s response is attached and available here:
https://consult.education.gov.uk/pshe/relationships-education-rse-health-education/supporting_documents/180718%20Consultation_call%20for%20evidence%20response_policy%20statement.pdf.
The summary of the public consultation includes a list of the organisations engaged within Annex A, which is attached and available here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/780768/Government_Response_to_RSE_Consultation.pdf.
Asked by: Baroness Tonge (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how female genital mutilation education is taught in schools.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and it is illegal. Services, including schools, should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse.
Schools are able to teach about FGM as part of non-statutory personal, social, health and economic education.
By the end of secondary education, pupils should have been taught about FGM. Schools should address the physical and emotional damage caused by FGM. Pupils should be taught where to find support and that it is a criminal offence to perform or assist in the performance of FGM or fail to protect a person for whom one is responsible from FGM. Pupils may also need support to recognise when relationships (including family relationships) are unhealthy or abusive (including the unacceptability of neglect, emotional, sexual and physical abuse, honour-based violence and forced marriage) and strategies to manage this or access support for oneself or others at risk. All teaching for these subjects should be age and developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the needs of the pupil, including ensuring that no pupil feels stigmatised. Schools should work closely with the local community and key partners, such as school nurses, and draw on local health data when planning their teaching for any aspect of these subjects. Teaching about FGM will not be in isolation but as part of a wider context of positive relationships, health and mental wellbeing. The focus on ensuring pupils know how to get further help should be threaded throughout these subjects.
The statutory guidance for these subjects was developed as part of a call for evidence and public consultation, and the government’s response is attached and available here:
https://consult.education.gov.uk/pshe/relationships-education-rse-health-education/supporting_documents/180718%20Consultation_call%20for%20evidence%20response_policy%20statement.pdf.
The summary of the public consultation includes a list of the organisations engaged within Annex A, which is attached and available here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/780768/Government_Response_to_RSE_Consultation.pdf.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether female genital mutilation education in schools is having a positive impact.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and it is illegal. Services, including schools, should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse.
Keeping children safe in education is statutory safeguarding guidance. All schools must have regard to it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The guidance sets out that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and that all school staff should receive appropriate safeguarding training at induction and that the training should be regularly updated. The guidance states that all staff should speak to the school’s designated safeguarding lead with regard to any concerns about FGM. It then goes on to explain the specific legal duty placed on teachers to report an act of FGM on a girl under the age of 18 to the police. The guidance is available here and attached: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.
We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. We want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. From September 2020, we are making Relationships Education compulsory for all primary pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary pupils and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
The statutory guidance states that by the end of secondary education, pupils should have been taught about FGM. Schools should address the physical and emotional damage caused by FGM. They should also be taught where to find support and that it is a criminal offence to perform or assist in the performance of FGM or fail to protect a person for whom you are responsible from FGM. As well as addressing this in the context of the law, pupils may also need support to recognise when relationships (including family relationships) are unhealthy or abusive (including the unacceptability of neglect, emotional, sexual and physical abuse and violence, including honour-based violence and forced marriage) and strategies to manage this or access support for oneself or others at risk. All teaching for these subjects should be age as well as developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the needs of the pupil. This includes ensuring that no pupil feels stigmatised. Schools for example should work closely with the local community and key partners such as school nurses, as well as draw on local health data, when planning their teaching for any aspect of these subjects.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of female genital mutilation education in schools on any stigma experienced by children of African descent.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and it is illegal. Services, including schools, should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse.
Keeping children safe in education is statutory safeguarding guidance. All schools must have regard to it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The guidance sets out that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and that all school staff should receive appropriate safeguarding training at induction and that the training should be regularly updated. The guidance states that all staff should speak to the school’s designated safeguarding lead with regard to any concerns about FGM. It then goes on to explain the specific legal duty placed on teachers to report an act of FGM on a girl under the age of 18 to the police. The guidance is available here and attached: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.
We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. We want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. From September 2020, we are making Relationships Education compulsory for all primary pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary pupils and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
The statutory guidance states that by the end of secondary education, pupils should have been taught about FGM. Schools should address the physical and emotional damage caused by FGM. They should also be taught where to find support and that it is a criminal offence to perform or assist in the performance of FGM or fail to protect a person for whom you are responsible from FGM. As well as addressing this in the context of the law, pupils may also need support to recognise when relationships (including family relationships) are unhealthy or abusive (including the unacceptability of neglect, emotional, sexual and physical abuse and violence, including honour-based violence and forced marriage) and strategies to manage this or access support for oneself or others at risk. All teaching for these subjects should be age as well as developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the needs of the pupil. This includes ensuring that no pupil feels stigmatised. Schools for example should work closely with the local community and key partners such as school nurses, as well as draw on local health data, when planning their teaching for any aspect of these subjects.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many female genital mutilation protection orders were issued in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, (4) 2018, and (5) 2019.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. We significantly strengthened the law in 2015 in order to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down the barriers to prosecution.
The first UK conviction for FGM took place on 1 February 2019 and the perpetrator was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The Home Office does not collate information on prosecutions centrally. Information on FGM prosecutions can be found in the Violence Against Women and Girls Reports, which are published annually by the Crown Prosecution Service.
We have not previously collected data on the number of FGM cases received under the mandatory reporting duty. However, to improve understanding of the prevalence of so called ‘honour-based’ abuse, including FGM, the Government amended the police Annual Data Requirement (ADR) to require police forces, from April 2019, to record where a crime has been committed in the context of preserving the ‘honour’ of a family or community. This new collection is also capturing police recorded offences of FGM which were initially reported to the police under the mandatory reporting duty. Subject to data quality checks, we expect the first dataset under this new mandatory ADR collection to be published by autumn 2020.
The Government will continue to keep the changes made in the Serious Crime Act 2015 under review in order to ensure that they are working effectively.
The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistics on the number of FGM Protection Orders (FGMPOs) issued by the family courts in England and Wales, which can be found via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly.
The figures from 2015-2019 are set out in the table below. To note that FGMPOs were introduced in July 2015 and the figures for 2019 cover the period up to 30 September 2019. Figures for the final three months of 2019 will be published in due course.
2015 | 32 |
2016 | 64 |
2017 | 109 |
2018 | 143 |
2019 | 141 |
Total | 489 |
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the new relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education guidance requires schools to teach pupils (a) what constitutes domestic abuse and (b) how that abuse might manifest in their own (i) LGBT+ and (ii) other relationships.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are committed to supporting all schools in their preparations to introduce relationships education (primary school pupils), relationships and sex education (secondary school pupils), and health education (state-funded school pupils) to a high standard from September 2020.
Through relationships education and relationships and sex education, schools will teach pupils the knowledge they need to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse in an age and developmentally appropriate way.
In primary schools, this will be delivered through focusing on boundaries and privacy in relationships with peers and family, including online. Pupils will also be taught how to report concerns or abuse.
At secondary school, content such as grooming, sexual exploitation and domestic abuse, should also be addressed sensitively and clearly. Pupils should know the concepts of the law relating to sexual consent, exploitation, domestic abuse, rape, honour-based violence and Female Genital Mutilation, and how these can affect current and future relationships and where to access support if they are at risk.
All pupils should receive teaching on LGBT relationships during their school years. The guidance recommends that LGBT specific content, when taught, is fully integrated in schools’ programme of study for this area of the curriculum.
Relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education will also support the statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ guidance for schools, which they must consider when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support the Government is providing to victims of (a) domestic and (b) sexual abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls. Since 2016 we have pledged increased funding of £100m to support victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The funding has been used for specific services for victims and survivors of sexual violence. This includes £12.5m provided by the Ministry of Justice, of which £7.2m was allocated to 97 rape support services across England and Wales and £4.7m to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to deliver local support services for victims of Child Sexual Abuse across England and Wales.
From April 2019, rape and sexual abuse support services received an £800,000 increase in funding, allowing them to help more victims of sexual violence including recent and non-recent child sexual abuse. This funding, now totalling £24 million over the next three years, will help provide advice, support and counselling to victims of these appalling crimes. We have also provided £150,000 per year core grant funding to national third sector organisations who support victims of rape and sexual violence since 2011.
We are also supporting victims of domestic and sexual abuse through the £17m VAWG Transformation Fund. From 2017 to 2020, the Government is funding 41 local areas to promote early intervention and prevention.
In addition funding has been allocated across a range of projects focused on supporting those affected by domestic abuse including; £8m specifically for children; £2m for female offenders; and £2m to improve the health service response to domestic abuse.
In November 2018, we announced £22m to provide over 2,220 new beds in refuges and other safe accommodation – supporting more than 19,000 survivors with a safe space to rebuild their lives.
There are a range of other Government funding sources which are supporting victims of domestic and sexual abuse including; the £15m Police Transformation Fund; the £9m Tampon Tax Fund; the £16.9m Children’s Social Care Innovation Fund; £27m of funding to support 47 Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) in England and; £63m of annual funding to PCCs for Victims Services.
The Government has also recently committed to provide over £1m of funding per year, until 2021/22, for the seven national helplines which provide support to victims of domestic abuse, victims of stalking, perpetrators of abuse, victims of revenge porn and victims of honour-based abuse.
As part of the Government’s continued commitment to tackle VAWG, this year we have published the draft Domestic Abuse Bill and the VAWG strategy refresh.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to protect young adults from arranged and forced marriages.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims, sending a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK. In 2017 we also introduced lifelong anonymity for victims of forced marriage to encourage more victims of this hidden crime to come forward.
An “arranged marriage” is one where parents or other relatives choose a potential suitor, but both parties involved have the final say and can withdraw at any point. As such, it is not illegal. If a person changes their mind during that process and then is not allowed to stop the marriage – this becomes a forced marriage and is unacceptable.
The FMU operates a public helpline to provide advice and support to victims, those at risk, and professionals. The support offered ranges from providing information and guidance to organising rescue and repatriation to the UK for victims overseas. In November 2018 we also launched the Forced Marriage Awareness Campaign, which highlights that forced marriage is a crime and directs victims to contact the helpline for support
Border Force officers at UK ports and airports are trained to look for those at risk of Honour Based Abuse (HBA), including forced marriage. Border Force conducts regular joint operations (‘Operation Limelight’) with the police at airports across the country to raise awareness with potential victims of HBA
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to improve the evidence base for understanding the levels and risks of female genital mutilation in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government is clear that we will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong suffering to women and girls.
In March 2019, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government allocated £375,000 for 37 local authority areas to fund locally-driven out-reach, engagement and communications on the practice of FGM. It is for Local Authorities to determine how best to utilise funding to combat the practice of FGM in their areas.
Data on FGM includes a 2015 City University and Equality Now study, part funded by the Home Office, which estimated that 137,000 women and girls who had migrated to England and Wales were living with the consequences of FGM, and approximately 60,000 girls aged 0-14 were born in England and Wales to mothers who had undergone FGM. The study also provides a breakdown of FGM prevalence estimates by local authority area which is available online at http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/12382/.
In addition, NHS Digital publishes data on the prevalence of FGM within the NHS in England. The most recent quarterly statistics were published in February 2019. A detailed breakdown of these statistics, including by local authority and age, is available online at https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/female-genital-mutilation.
To improve understanding of the prevalence of so-called ‘Honour Based Abuse’ (HBA), we introduced a mandatory HBA collection to the Annual Data Requirement (ADR) of police forces in England and Wales. This requires police forces to record where a crime has been committed in the context of preserving the honour of a family or community. This new collection is also capturing police recorded offences of FGM which were initially reported to the police under the mandatory reporting duty https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mandatory-reporting-of-female-genital-mutilation-procedural-information
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how his Department measures the efficacy of funding to prevent and protect girls and young women from female genital mutilation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government is clear that we will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong suffering to women and girls.
In March 2019, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government allocated £375,000 for 37 local authority areas to fund locally-driven out-reach, engagement and communications on the practice of FGM. It is for Local Authorities to determine how best to utilise funding to combat the practice of FGM in their areas.
Data on FGM includes a 2015 City University and Equality Now study, part funded by the Home Office, which estimated that 137,000 women and girls who had migrated to England and Wales were living with the consequences of FGM, and approximately 60,000 girls aged 0-14 were born in England and Wales to mothers who had undergone FGM. The study also provides a breakdown of FGM prevalence estimates by local authority area which is available online at http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/12382/.
In addition, NHS Digital publishes data on the prevalence of FGM within the NHS in England. The most recent quarterly statistics were published in February 2019. A detailed breakdown of these statistics, including by local authority and age, is available online at https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/female-genital-mutilation.
To improve understanding of the prevalence of so-called ‘Honour Based Abuse’ (HBA), we introduced a mandatory HBA collection to the Annual Data Requirement (ADR) of police forces in England and Wales. This requires police forces to record where a crime has been committed in the context of preserving the honour of a family or community. This new collection is also capturing police recorded offences of FGM which were initially reported to the police under the mandatory reporting duty https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mandatory-reporting-of-female-genital-mutilation-procedural-information