Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Oliver Heald and Guy Opperman

Tuesday 13th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

9. What steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking to prosecute cases involving female genital mutilation.

[The Solicitor-General (Oliver Heald)]

The first prosecution is under way. Lead prosecutors have been appointed for each CPS area. The Director of Public Prosecutions and I have written to Ministers in the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health to suggest ways in which the criminal law could be strengthened.

[Guy Opperman]

I urge the Solicitor-General to take note of the Home Affairs Committee report on this issue and to target the local communities in this country and abroad where this abhorrent crime is increasingly taking effect.

[The Solicitor-General]

My hon. Friend is right that a prosecution is, in a sense, a failure because we want to diverge from this activity, stop it happening and change minds in communities. That is the essence of what the Government are trying to achieve, although we have to have prosecutions where necessary and we have a strong action plan to achieve them.