Female Genital Mutilation: Crime Prevention

(asked on 22nd January 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of taking preventative action in relation to an at-risk individual being subjected to FGM.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 8th February 2019

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government is clear that we will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong suffering to women and girls

The Government has significantly strengthened the law in 2015 to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down the barriers to prosecution.


Work to tackle FGM is an integral part of our cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, published in March 2016. The Strategy commits to continue to challenge deep-rooted social norms, attitudes and behaviours that discriminate against and limit women and girls across all communities. As part of our commitment to tackling all forms of VAWG, we have pledged £100 million in funding, including the £17 million VAWG transformation fund. This year, we will refresh the strategy to ensure that we are doing all that we can to tackle crimes which disproportionately affect women.

The Home Office does not hold information on the cost of taking preventative action to those at risk of FGM. However, we are committed to continuing our work to protect and support victims and those at risk of this terrible crime.

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