Ministers send prosecutors new guidelines against families who send
young girls abroad to undergo the brutal procedure
Hugh Muir
Saturday July 23 2011
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/22/female-genital-mutilation-laws-families
New guidelines to target families that take young girls abroad to
undergo female genital mutilation are being sent to prosecutors by the
government.
Ministers want to encourage more action against those who inflict the
brutal procedure on their children and relatives amid concerns that
the current approach serves as little deterrent.
Female genital mutilation is an illegal procedure in the UK with those
convicted risking 14 years' imprisonment. The Female Genital
Mutilation Act of 2003 also allows for the prosecution of British
citizens who breach the provisions of the act and perform the
procedure abroad.
But while the law seems strict on paper, it seems to have limited
effect in practice. Campaigners say 22,000 girls are at risk each
year. However, MPs were this week told that there has yet to be a
single conviction, despite 100 investigations being carried out over
two years by the Met. By contrast the French authorities have
successfully prosecuted in 100 cases.
Fears are currently acute because the long school summer holidays are
when many girls are flown to Africa, the Middle East and parts of the
far east, oblivious to what has been planned for them.
Outlining the new approach to the House of Commons, the Home Office
minister Jeremy Wright said: "There are a number of things we can do.
We should look not only to punish those who are responsible for
committing these offences but to improve the guidance available to
prosecutors so that they can prosecute more often. If there are
difficulties with prosecuting, they might be to do with the types of
information and understanding that crown prosecutors need to have and
later this summer the CPS will therefore be issued with new guidelines
to assist."
Advice compiled by the Home Office, Foreign Office, the education
department and the health department will also be sent to teachers and
GPs, the minister said. "We need to broaden awareness more generally
and have sent out some 40,000 leaflets and 40,000 posters to schools,
health services, charities and community groups, because wider society
needs to understand what is happening," he added. "We also need to
assist victims, which we are doing with 15 specialist NHS clinics
offering a range of services, including so-called reversal surgery.
Women can go to those centres direct and do not need to be referred."
The minister was responding to Jane Ellison, the Tory MP for
Battersea, who made an impassioned plea for the issue to be taken more
seriously. She described genital mutilation as "a brutal crime
perpetrated against those who are least able to protect themselves:
little girls and young women. In every case, the health of the girl or
woman is damaged, often irreparably. What is most shocking of all is
that a great many of these criminal acts are perpetrated against girls
aged 10 and under, right down to infants."
Ellison quoted figures from the Foundation for Women's Health,
Research and Development (Forward), which suggest that around 66,000
women and girls in England and Wales have already been subject to
genital mutilation and well over 22,000 should be considered as "at
risk". "In some areas of London, about 5% of women giving birth
present with signs of mutilation," she told the house.
"Headteachers have described to me happy and outgoing young girls who
have returned from their summer holidays withdrawn and distressed. I
struggle to understand why the systematic and brutal wounding of young
girls is not considered a national scandal. I know that right
honourable and honourable members would not tolerate a situation in
which little British girls were taken abroad and returned missing
their fingers. Likewise, we should not tolerate female genital
mutilation."
Two weeks ago the Met and the charity Kids Taskforce [http://
www.kidstaskforce.com/" title="] launched a teaching aid for schools:
a short documentary made by pupils in south London with assistance
from journalists from ITN and one of the producers of Come Dine With
Me. Sharon Doughty, the founder of Kids Taskforce, said they hope to
raise awareness among teachers but also pupils themselves.
"Any move towards a prosecution would be a fantastic development. We
need a prosecution. It would send an important message."
Video: Watch Guardian Films' [http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-
development/video/2011/apr/18/female-genital-mutilation-video"
title="]investigation into the issue
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Guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011
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