PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (21 May 2012)

That this House notes that an estimated 80,000 women and girls in the UK are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), 24,000 of whom are girls under the age of 15 years; further notes that these procedures have no health benefits and are recognised internationally as a violation of human rights; acknowledges FGM as an important public interest issue, as it physically and mentally damages young women; further acknowledges there can be serious complications with pregnancy and childbirth if a woman has undergone FGM; welcomes the work of the Female Genital Mutilation National Clinical Group; commends its encouragement of healthcare professionals including midwives, obstetricians, nurses, public health professionals, community workers, policy makers, police and others to work together to identify women and girls who are at risk, to support those who have already suffered and to prevent the practice of FGM; further welcomes the new legal guidance issued by the Crown Prosecution Service; looks forward to an increase from zeroin the number of prosecutions brought for offences relating to FGM; and calls for politicians, professionals and communities to continue towork in partnership to bring an end to the practice of female genital mutilation.