Female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia of women and girls living in the UK. According to Equality Now and City University London, an estimated 103,000 women and girls aged 15–49 were thought to be living with female genital mutilation (FGM) in England and Wales as of 2011.[n 1][2]
FGM was outlawed in the UK by the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985, which made it an offence to perform FGM on children or adults.[3] The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 and the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005 made it an offence to arrange FGM outside the country for British citizens or permanent residents, whether or not it is lawful in the country to which the girl is taken.[n 2][7][8] The penalty is up to 14 years in jail.[9]
The first prosecutions for FGM took place in 2015 against a doctor accused of performing FGM and another man accused of aiding and abetting; both were found not guilty.[10] The first successful conviction was secured in February 2019.
- ^ Alison Macfarlane and Efua Dorkenoo, "Female Genital Mutilation in England and Wales" Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine, City University of London and Equality Now, 21 July 2014, p. 3.
- ^ "Female genital mutilation: the case for a national plan", House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session 2014–15.
Also see "Female Genital Mutilation: Report of a Research Methodological Workshop on Estimating the Prevalence of FGM in England and Wales" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Equality Now, 22–23 March 2012.
For an earlier report, Efua Dorkenoo, Linda Morison, Alison Macfarlane, "A Statistical Study to Estimate the Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation in England and Wales" Archived 2013-07-26 at the Wayback Machine, FORWARD, October 2007.
Richard Kerbaj, "Thousands of girls mutilated in Britain",The Times, 16 March 2009 (courtesy link Archived 2013-06-26 at the Wayback Machine).
- ^ "Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985".
- ^ "Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003", legislation.gov.uk, and "Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003" Archived 2013-09-08 at the Wayback Machine (legal guidance), Crown Prosecution Service: "The Act refers to 'girls', though it also applies to women."
- ^ "Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003".
- ^ "Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005", legislation.gov.uk
- ^ Notes on some overseas countries' laws, FGM Education and Networking Project.
- ^ Tracy McVeigh, Tara Sutton, "British girls undergo horror of genital mutilation despite tough laws", The Guardian, 25 July 2010.
- ^ "Charity warns of FGM 'parties' taking place in England". BBC News. 2016-12-13. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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