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Female Genital Mutilation

Volume 708: debated on Thursday 5 March 2009

Question

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of female genital mutilation in Britain. [HL1652]

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been (a) arrested, and (b) prosecuted for carrying out female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom in each of the past 10 years. [HL1653]

In October 2007 the Department of Health funded the Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (FORWARD) to undertake a study in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and City University Midwifery Department to estimate the incidence of female genital mutilation in England and Wales. The study reveals that nearly 66,000 women with FGM are living in England and Wales.

The Department of Health has commissioned FORWARD to undertake further research to update these figures.

To date, neither the Metropolitan Police Service nor the Crown Prosecution Service has a record of any arrests or prosecutions being commenced under either the 1985 or 2003 Acts.