Intercollegiate group recommends all evidence of FGM be reported to the police.

Conservative estimates put the number of girls and women who have experienced female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK at 66,000, with an additional 15,000 girls under the age of 15 considered to be at risk.

But until now, the UK’s attempts to eradicate female genital mutilation have floundered, partly hindered by the desire to be culturally and religiously sensitive.

Although FGM has been Illegal in the UK since 1985, there has yet to be a single criminal case tried in the UK.

That is despite an update to the law in 2003 that allows for prosecution of any acts of FGM committed by a Briton outside the country.

With professionals saying that ‘it is known that the number of communities [in the UK] affected by FGM is growing,’ and with Britain increasingly seen as a cheaper destination for communities who otherwise would send their girls further abroad, campaigners are stepping up their efforts to eradicate the practice.

A coalition of Royal Colleges and health representative organisations have collaborated on a new set of joint guidelines that recommend nine essential steps to take to stop practice in this country.

Titled “Tackling FGM in the UK: Intercollegiate recommendations for identifying, recording and reporting,” the report was written by the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Nursing, the union Unite with the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association, and Equality Now, and acknowledges the difficulties faced by professionals in successfully providing multi-agency service and support.

The number one recommendation in the report is to treat FGM as child abuse.

For the first time, this makes it clear for all professionals that a child’s safety is paramount and must always be considered a priority over any cultural or religious considerations.

Leyla Hussein, who was ‘cut’ when she was seven years old, said, ‘FGM is one of the worse physical and psychological scars a girl can be left with.

‘It has nothing to do with religion and isn’t mentioned in any of the holy books or condoned by any religion.’

The report also makes it clear that FGM is a crime, and calls on health professionals to report all cases and suspected cases: ‘All girls and women presenting with FGM within the NHS must be considered as potential victims of crime, and should be referred to the police and support services.’

Hence the intercollegiate approach as the first step to systemic change.

‘Historically, there has been such a lack of urgency in confronting and tackling it – we seem to be closing our ears and pretending it’s not happening,’ said Hussein.

The lack of data on FGM is telling, and is reflected in the second of the report’s nine recommendations: ‘Document and collect information: The NHS should document and collect information on FGM and its associated complications in a consistent and rigorous way.’

Linked to the collection of information is the need for information about girls at risk of, and girls who have already undergone, FGM, to be more systematically shared between health and social care professionals, educators and the police, .

Sarian Karim, who suffered FGM as an 11 year-old in Sierra Leone, said, ‘It is very important that everyone knows that FGM is illegal.

‘[It] damages girls and leaves them scarred for life – mentally and physically.’

The report also calls for Education for professionals, so they have the confidence, knowledge and awareness to be able to sensitively address the issue with patients, whether in general practice, paediatric or maternity care; education for girls and young women, both those at risk and survivors, as part of their schooling and extracurricular activities; and education for the public via a national awareness campaign.

A government-funded national public health campaign, along the lines of those undertaken for HIV and domestic violence would, the groups feels, accelerate the pace of change.

FGM is recognised by the UN as torture, and this report says ‘by acting together, we can work towards the elimination of this illegal and abhorrent practice.’