WUNRN
British Medical Association
Direct Link to Full 18-Page 2011
Publication:
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
FGM
is considered a form of child abuse and is a criminal offence under Female
Genital Mutilation (
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.