Female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom refers to the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia of women and girls living in the UK. According to Equality Now and City University London, an estimated 103,000 women and girls aged 15–49 were thought to be living with female genital mutilation (FGM) in England and Wales as of 2011.〔("Female genital mutilation: the case for a national plan" ), House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session 2014–15.
Also see ("Female Genital Mutilation: Report of a Research Methodological Workshop on Estimating the Prevalence of FGM in England and Wales" ), Equality Now, 22–23 March 2012.
For an earlier report, Efua Dorkenoo, Linda Morison, Alison Macfarlane, ("A Statistical Study to Estimate the Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation in England and Wales" ), FORWARD, October 2007.
Richard Kerbaj, ("Thousands of girls mutilated in Britain" ),''The Times'', 16 March 2009 ((courtesy link )).〕
FGM was outlawed in the UK by the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985, which made it an offence to perform FGM on children or adults.〔("Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985" ).〕 The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 and the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005 made it an offence to arrange FGM outside the country for British citizens or permanent residents, whether or not it is lawful in the country to which the girl is taken.〔(Notes on some overseas countries' laws ), FGM Education and Networking Project.〕〔Tracy McVeigh, Tara Sutton, ("British girls undergo horror of genital mutilation despite tough laws" ), ''The Guardian'', 25 July 2010.〕
To date there have been no convictions. The first prosecutions took place in 2015 against a doctor for performing FGM and another man for aiding and abetting; both were found not guilty.〔
==History==
The diaspora communities in the UK thought to be at high risk of FGM include those from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. The largest is the Somalia diaspora, with nearly 42,000 women and girls in the UK believed to be affected as of 2011.〔Alison Macfarlane and Efua Dorkenoo, (Mcfarlane and Dorkenoo 2014 ) p. 14.〕〔J. A. Black, G. D. Debelle, ("Female genital mutilation in Britain" ), ''British Medical Journal'', 310, 17 June 1995. PMID 7787654〕 FGM has a high prevalence in several of these countries, including the most severe form, FGM Type III. Girls from communities in which FGM is commonplace are often taken to their countries of origin during the school summer holidays in order to undergo the procedure. This period of the year is known as the "cutting season".
In 1983 Efua Dorkenoo, author of ''Cutting the Rose'' (1994), founded the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD), a British NGO that supports women who have experienced FGM and tries to eliminate the practice.〔Efua Dorkenoo, ''Cutting the Rose: Female Genital Mutilation, the Practice and its Prevention'', London: Minority Rights Group, 1994.〕 Dorkenoo received an OBE in 1994 for her work.〔Douglas Martin, ("Efua Dorkenoo Dies at 65; Key Foe of Genital Cutting in Africa, Middle East" ), ''The New York Times'', 27 October 2014.〕 Two years after she founded FORWARD, the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 made it an offence in the UK to perform FGM on children or adults.〔
In 1993 the London Borough of Brent debated a motion that FGM should be legalized and made available on the National Health Service. The motion called for it to be classed as a "right specifically for African families who want to carry on their tradition whilst living in this country". Ann Brent, a councillor who opposed the motion, said she suffered verbal attacks, including threats that she herself would be mutilated; interviewed in 2014, she said she believed her treatment had deterred people for years from opposing FGM in case they were accused of racism. The motion was defeated, but not before the World Health Organization, UNICEF and author Alice Walker urged councillors to oppose it.〔Annette Scambler, "Gender, health and postmodernism," in Paul Higgs, Graham Scambler (eds.), ''Modernity, Medicine and Health'', Routledge, 2005, p. (119 ), citing A. Boulton, "Calls for female circumcision on the NHS sparks storm," ''The Observer'', 14 February 1993.〕
In 1997 specialist midwife Comfort Momoh set up the African Well Women's Clinic in London to help women affected by FGM.〔Jess Frampton, ("From taboo to talking point – an eye-opening insight into Female Genital Mutilation" ), UN Women, 18 June 2013.〕 Momoh was awarded an MBE in 2008 for services to women's healthcare.〔Suzi Dixon, ("Health and beauty: New Year Honours" ), ''The Daily Telegraph'', 31 December 2007.〕