Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the Government's funding for community projects to tackle female genital mutilation has been spent.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. We will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls.

In 2014/15, the Government provided over £380,000 to community organisations through the Home Office’s FGM Community Engagement Initiative and the Department for Communities and Local Government’s FGM and forced marriage prevention projects.

The 29 projects all included prevention work with a focus on building the confidence of women and communities to speak out against these practices and raising awareness of the serious consequences they can have.

Evaluations show that over 25,000 people were reached and feedback from participants demonstrates increased awareness of the context, manifestation and harm caused by FGM and forced marriage.