Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms the Government employs to liaise with external organisations in tackling FGM; who the chief points of contact are (a) nationally and (b) regionally for that liaison; and who outside Government is responsible for leading on work to end FGM.

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.

Whilst there is no national or local register of organisations and people who are promoting the ending of FGM, the Home Office FGM Unit leads on cross-government action to tackle FGM and regularly engages with a range of trusted external partners through a quarterly FGM stakeholder meeting, an Honour Based Violence enforcement meeting and an ongoing programme of nationwide outreach to support local areas and to raise awareness of the guidance and resources available for professionals in their work to end FGM. In addition, FGM forms an integral part of the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which is overseen by an Inter-Ministerial Group chaired by the Home Secretary.

FGM is a complex issue which demands a co-ordinated, multi-agency response from a range of professionals including teachers, health professionals, social workers and the police. That is why in April 2016 we published multi-agency guidance on FGM which was made statutory for the first time to support professionals to understand the risk factors that they should be looking out for and to respond effectively in cases of FGM. The guidance stresses the collaborative effort required to tackle FGM and to protect women and girls at risk.