FGM inquiry launched to uncover reasons for lack of prosecution in Uk

Efua Dorkenoo, head of Equality Now’s FGM policy: ‘This is the 1st time we have ever noticed FGM addressed at the really highest level.’ Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

A major inquiry has been launched into female genital mutilation (FGM) to uncover why there has not been a single prosecution in the Uk given that it was produced a criminal offence, and to attempt to bring an end to the unlawful practice.

Right after sustained strain from campaigners who have named for the the government to get action, the residence affairs pick committee will examine if the current legal framework is fit for objective and look at why there has not been a prosecution in three decades.

Following a report from the Royal College of Midwives, which identified a lot more than 66,000 victims of FGM in England and Wales and warned that 24,000 ladies under the age of 15 were at chance, the committee will probe the techniques for collecting and sharing details on FGM, which campaigners have stated is patchy in areas and non-existent in other people.

A petition from campaigner Leyla Hussein states that the battle to elimate FGM is failing simply because “multi-agency guidelines are not statutory, implementation at neighborhood authority and NHS degree is disjointed, funding is minimal, and nobody is monitoring or holding any person to account”. It has garnered a lot more than 94,000 signatures following her programme The Cruel Reduce.

Efua Dorkenoo, head of Equality Now’s FGM policy and a extended-time campaigner, hailed the information as a considerable breakthrough.

“It is brilliant information and I very much welcome the inquiry from the house affairs select committee,” she mentioned. “This is a substantial move as it is the very first time we have ever witnessed FGM addressed at the very highest degree.”

She referred to as on the committee to take on board the suggestions manufactured by the Royal College of Midwives report, which called for NHS staff to collect information on FGM and share it with police, education and social care workers as properly as treating FGM as child abuse. It asked that wellness workers who detect proof of FGM treat it as a crime and inform the police.

“We want a joined-up method with a emphasis on safety, prevention and prosecution with genuine leadership and accountability,” explained Dorkenoo. “If we do not get that then women will continue to be mutilated. With no leadership from the prime it will just be a talking shop.”

Nimco Ali, who founded the anti-FGM charity Daughters of Eve, welcomed the information but mentioned with no the backing of the Department for Training the problem could not be properly tackled. “The DfE is refusing to engage with this problem at all, and I would phone on Michael Gove to talk to younger people impacted and make the problem of FGM and violence against girls and women part of the curriculum.”

The committee will seem at present awareness-raising efforts, the barriers to intervention, and how police, wellness, schooling and social care pros function with each other. It will also appear at the services that are obtainable to ladies and girls who have suffered FGM and how they can be improved.

The chair of the committee, Keith Vaz, mentioned: “It is surprising that 28 years on from female genital mutilation very first currently being produced a criminal offence, there has not yet been a effective prosecution in the Uk. The committee’s inquiry will seek out to discover out why this is the situation, as well as thinking about what more wants to be carried out to safeguard at-danger women.

“We would welcome proof from people affected by this hideous crime as nicely as individuals whose accountability it is to shield them.”

The minister for crime prevention, Norman Baker, mentioned the government was taking a company line on FGM and was functioning with charities on on awareness-raising and with the DPP to secure convictions: “There is no justification for female genital mutilation – it is little one abuse and it is illegal. I am determined we do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice,” he stated. “The law in this nation applies to completely everybody and political or cultural sensitivities should not get in the way of preventing, uncovering and prosecuting FGM.

“Nor is there any religion which condones FGM so it’s essential that we get to the difficult-to-reach communities who think that their religion demands, or sanctions, FGM.”

FGM inquiry launched to uncover reasons for lack of prosecution in Uk