Michael Gove was urged on Saturday to stop dodging calls to take action on female genital mutilation as the number of signatures on a petition asking the education secretary to intervene rose to more than 130,000.
Campaigners want Gove to write to headteachers asking them to train staff and educate parents about the horror of FGM. Scotland's government has already reacted to the End FGM campaign, supported by the Guardian, it says it will be writing to every Scottish headteacher calling on them to train teachers and parents about the warning signs and risks of the practice.
However, Whitehall's response has remained lukewarm, with Gove's department steadfastly refusing to communicate directly with headteachers on the issue.
The central demand of the campaign, led by Bristol teenager Fahma Mohamed to help stamp out the practice, is for the education secretary to write to schools about FGM.
Government figures reveal that 20,000 British girls are at risk of being cut every year. Campaigners condemn the illegal practice – it was outlawed in the UK in 1985 – as "torture" and a "form of child abuse".
Mohamed, the 17-year-old face of the campaign that was launched on 5 February said: "Scotland has already listened to us. I just want to know why Michael Gove has decided to ignore the matter.
"Everyone is speaking out, I just want to know what is he [Gove] afraid of? I don't know why he's doing everything he can to not get involved. Maybe he just thinks it's a girl issue. I don't think he understands how important his role in this is."
Mohamed wants Gove to act before July, the start of the school holidays, when the "cutting" season begins. The National Association of Head Teachers has joined campaigners and activists calling on the education secretary to show leadership on FGM. Its general secretary, Russell Hobby, confirms that the union has called on the government to update the advice on FGM given to schools and says Gove should take the lead on the issue.
However, Mohamed said that despite Gove's intransgience on the issue she was "amazed" at the support received by the campaign: "I cannot believe so many people have signed it. This whole campaign was like the tipping point on the issue. It just shows what you can do in such a short amount of time."
Apart from the Department for Education, momentum to tackle the issue is growinging, with the first British prosecution for FGM expected within weeks. .
It emerged last week that doctors and nurses are to be told to log details of the injuries suffered by victims of FGM in an attempt to collate more information on the practice. At least 66,000 girls and women in the UK are believed to be victims of FGM.
