LONDON
Female genital mutilation is a national scandal, according to a group of U.K. MPs that have published a report Thursday.
MP Keith Vaz, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, said that the failure to address the issue by successive governments, politicians, police, health, education and social care sectors had resulted in the “mutilation of thousands of girls.”
According to the committee, there were up to 170,000 victims in the U.K. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines female genital mutilation as "all procedures involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons." FGM is usually carried out on girls between infancy and the age of 15. The report said that 65,000 girls aged under 13 were at risk of being cut.
The report entitled, Female genital mutilation: the case for a national action plan, recommends the immediate implementation of a national action plan and specific steps to respond to what they say is a growing crisis.
The report said there was a need to prosecute for FGM and that a number of successful prosecutions would send a clear message that the U.K. was taking the issue seriously. Currently there is only one FGM case pending in the UK.
Vaz said, “It is unacceptable that those with clear access to evidence of these crimes do nothing to help those at risk. We must follow the example of France and remove any barriers to referral. Conversations and checks must become the norm.”
The committee also said that if in a year’s time the reporting of FGM does not increase, they recommend that the government change the law to make the failure to report FGM a criminal offence.
“We owe survivors of FGM the chance to save others from this horrific abuse. Being able to give an anonymous testimony and having a safe place to call home is essential to help eradicate this practice. We must use every opportunity the law allows to give victims a voice.”
FGM is practiced in some African countries, parts of Asia and some Middle Eastern countries. It dates back thousands of years and is considered a cultural practice rather than a religious one, although some see it as a religious requirement.
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