A report by the cross-party Women and Equalities Committee has called for tough action to protect women and girls from female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision
A chilling report has found that female genital mutilation is happening in the UK – while British residents are also being taken overseas for traumatic procedures.
Ministers face calls to undo cuts and tackle the abuse – and to make it clear cultural sensitivities are “irrelevant”. FGM – also known as female circumcision – is a procedure where female genitals are deliberately cut.
It is usually carried out on children below 15. The cross-party Women and Equalities Committee has demanded manditory training for midwives and healthworkers and commission research to find out the scale of FGM in the UK.
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Labour MP Sarah Owen, who chairs the committee, said: “It’s of serious concern that evidence given to us and available data indicate both that FGM is taking place in the UK and that UK citizens or residents are being taken abroad to undergo FGM.
“The message needs to be clear that cultural sensitivities are irrelevant when it comes to violent, gender-based abuse; that more often than not it is perpetrated against a child, and that survivors must be supported in seeking justice. While this is happening, funding allocated to tackling FGM has reduced – leaving more women and girls at risk and unsupported.”
MPs called on the Government to return to spending £2million a year to address FGM and warned access to services is inconsistent across the UK.
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