WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

British Medical Association

http://www.bma.org.uk/ethics/human_rights/femalegenitalmutilation.jsp

Direct Link to Full 18-Page 2011 Publication:

http://www.bma.org.uk/images/femalegenitalmutilation_tcm41-207836.pdf

Female Genital Mutilation: Caring for Patients & Safeguarding Children

07 July 2011

Female genital mutilation (often referred to as 'FGM’) is a collective term used for a range of practices involving the removal or alteration of parts of healthy female genitalia for non therapeutic reasons. Different degrees of mutilation are practised by a variety of cultural groups, and the most common age for a girl to be mutilated is between 7 and 9 years in the UK. It is most likely to occur over the summer holidays with the girl being taken overseas.

FGM is considered a form of child abuse and is a criminal offence under Female Genital Mutilation (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) Act 2003 and the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005. Despite this, it was estimated that over 21,000 girls under the age of 15, in England and Wales, were at high risk of genital mutilation in 2005.

In early 2011 the government published comprehensive multi-agency guidance to tackle and prevent FGM - Multi-Agency Practice Guidelines: Female Genital Mutilation. In response to this, the British Medical Association (BMA) has undertaken a significant revision of its main guidance on FGM to focus on the role of doctors in preventing and eradicating the practice. The guidance - Female Genital Mutilation: Caring for patients and safeguarding children - addresses practical questions such as how to identify if a girl or woman is at risk, or has undergone FGM; when confidentiality can be breached; and when to invoke child safeguarding procedures. In addition, the guidance directs doctors to further sources of advice and support.