Gender-based Violence: Screening

Earl of Listowel Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

Yes, my Lords. The Government hosted the first ever Girl Summit last year on ending female genital mutilation as well as forced marriage and other issues. We set up a specialist female genital mutilation unit following that summit. We provided money last year for the FGM prevention programme, and as part of this we introduced the first ever data collection in the NHS for all acute trusts, which are now required to record in a patient’s healthcare record whenever FGM is identified. We have also said that front-line professionals will in future have a mandatory duty to report cases of FGM in those under 18.

[The Earl of Listowel (CB)]

My Lords, following on from my noble friend Lord Laming’s question on children in these circumstances, is the Minister ensuring that where gender-based violence is at play, any children in those circumstances are being identified and getting the help and support that they need?

[Earl Howe]

The noble Earl makes an extremely important point. I can reassure him that children and young people are very much the focus of the work that we have been doing, and that a guidance document was issued recently to that effect.