Girls who are at risk of being removed from the UK to undergo female genital mutilation will have their passports confiscated so they cannot be taken out of the country, under “unprecedented” legal reforms announced by the government.
If a girl is suspected to be at risk, courts will be able to use new FGM protection orders to prevent her parents taking her out of the country. They could also pave the way for the mandatory medical examination of girls believed to be at risk, who will be required to live at a named address so that authorities can check they have not been subjected to the practice.
The tough new FGM measures were introduced via amendments to the serious crime bill tabled in parliament on Monday. They include a new legal duty on parents to protect their daughters from mutilation, or face prosecution if they fail to do so.
Victims will also receive lifelong anonymity in an attempt to encourage victims to give evidence in court.
The serious crime bill already extends the extra-territorial offences in the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 so that they cover habitual as well as permanent UK residents involved in offences of FGM committed abroad – closing a loophole that had left vulnerable some girls who were living in the UK but were not permanent residents.
Justice minister Mike Penning said: “We are introducing an unprecedented package of measures to strengthen protection for victims, encourage them to report the crime to the police and get support. We also want to prosecute those who knowingly let this terrible abuse happen to children they are responsible for. We know that legislation alone cannot eradicate this unacceptable practice. But it is important that we change the law where necessary.”
Teachers, social workers, police and other individuals such as friends or relatives of a girl will be able to obtain FGM protection orders by applying to the courts with evidence that she is at risk. If the court agrees, civil restrictions – which require a lower burden of proof than criminal charges – will be put in place. They could include ensuring a child is kept at one address, mandatory medical examination and travel bans. If parents or guardians breach the order, they would be committing a criminal offence.
The orders have been designed to make it easier to prevent “vacation cutting” – the practice by which girls are taken out of the country during the summer holidays to be cut – while also enabling a child to remain safely with her parents instead of being taken in to care. An estimated 137,000 women and girls in England and Wales are affected by FGM, according to a study by Equality Now and City University.
Last week it was revealed that more than 1,700 women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation had been treated by the NHS – although not necessarily for issues related to the practice – since April.
The first official figures to be published on the numbers of FGM cases seen by hospitals in England showed that 467 previously unknown genital mutilation survivors were treated at acute NHS trusts in England in September.
Police operations at airports and ports over the summer led to the arrest of several adults suspected of taking children abroad to undergo FGM. The practice has been illegal in the UK since 1985. There has yet to be a criminal conviction in this country but the first prosecution for the practice is currently in the courts.
