Laws toughened up on female circumcision

The government has tightened up legislation banning the female circumcision and closed loophole whereby girls would be taken abroad for the procedure.

The Female Genital Mutilation Act reinforces existing legislation criminalising the offence and raises the maximum penalty for both performing and procuring female genital mutilation from 5 to 14 years imprisonment.

It is estimated that there are 74,000 first generation African immigrant women in the UK who have undergone female genital mutilation and as many as 7,000 girls under 16 within the practising communities who are at risk of female genital mutilation.

Female genital mutilation involves procedures which include the partial or total removal of the external female genital organs for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons. The practice is medically unnecessary, extremely painful and has serious health consequences, both at the time when the mutilation is carried out, and in later life.

The government is also providing funding of £30,000 to support services to help finance an information campaign amongst the practising communities, which will include the use of seminars, workshops and leaflets. Additionally revised guidance was issued today to asylum caseworkers to ensure gender related issues, including female genital mutilation, are taken into account when assessing a claim for asylum.

Visiting the support group Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (FORWARD) today, Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "Female genital mutilation is a very harmful practice that is already rightly illegal in this country. No cultural, medical or other reason can ever justify a practice that causes so much pain and suffering. Regardless of cultural background, it is completely unacceptable and should be illegal wherever it takes place."

Ann Clywd, the MP responsible for introducing the new legislation, said that victims suffer "enormous physical and psychological harm throughout their lives", yet too often they suffer in silence.

She added: "Female genital mutilation is harmful and it violates the most basic human rights, which the UK has undertaken to protect in a number of international instruments. I hope that this legislation will send that message very powerfully indeed."

Reportedly practised in 28 African countries, as well as by some ethnic groups in the Arabian peninsula, the Persian gulf and south-west Asia, an estimated 135 million of the world's girls and women have undergone genital mutilation and two million girls a year are at risk.

Although female circumcision is performed by many different religious groups, including Muslims, Christians and Jews - and by non-believers - it is not a religious practice, as some claim.

(gmcg)