Thursday, July 21, 2016

Almost 16 new cases of FGM are reported every DAY in England - with girls aged 5 to 9 most commonly affected

  • Is the first time annual data on FGM has been published by the NHS after bodies were told to record data last year 
  • There were 5,700 new cases of the practice recorded during 2015/16 - more than half of cases reported in London
  • More than a third of women or girls who had their genitals mutilated were from Somalia and 90% were from Africa

More than a hundred cases of female genital mutilation are being reported every week in England 
More than 100 cases of female genital mutilation are being reported every week in England, alarming new figures have revealed.

There were 5,700 new cases of the practice recorded during 2015/16 - the equivalent of 16 a day.

From July 2015 it became mandatory for all hospital trusts to collect data on FGM.

Mental health trusts and GP practices were required to do the same in October of the same year.

Today marks the first time the Health and Social Care Information Centre - which collects official NHS stats - has published annual figures on the practice.

FGM is a harmful traditional practice that involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia.

It is illegal in both the UK and to take a female abroad for the purposes of FGM - and a maximum jail term for carrying out or enabling FGM of 14 years.

The new figures reveal girls aged five to nine were most likely to be victims, while more than half of cases were reported in London.

More than 8,600 women and girls presented at healthcare facilities where staff identified female genital mutilation (FGM) or performed a medical procedure to treat a problem related to it.

In 18 cases the practice was illegally carried out in the UK, the report found.  
Other key findings from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) report, which looked at data from April 2015 to March 2016, include:

  • Women and girls born in Somalia account for more than a third (37 per cent) of newly recorded cases of FGM

  • Other countries with a large volume of cases include Eritrea in Eastern Africa, the Sudan in Northern Africa and Nigeria and the Gambia in Western Africa.

  • Some 90 per cent of women and girls were born in an African country, with a small percentage from Asia

  • Of the total number of newly recorded cases, 43 involved women and girls who said they had been born in the UK

  • FGM was most commonly carried out on girls aged five to nine - 43 per cent of cases


The Health and Social Care Information Centre report showed Birmingham and Bristol were the local authorities with the highest number of newly recorded cases (total attendances are higher because the same women or girls could have multiple appointments)
The Health and Social Care Information Centre report showed Birmingham and Bristol were the local authorities with the highest number of newly recorded cases (total attendances are higher because the same women or girls could have multiple appointments)
Across the whole country, London was the area with the highest number of newly recorded cases of FGM, with 2,940 in total. South of England was the area with the least, with 620
Across the whole country, London was the area with the highest number of newly recorded cases of FGM, with 2,940 in total. South of England was the area with the least, with 620



  •  The report also found:  

    • When it was known what type of genital mutilation the women and girls had endured, 35 per cent had Type 1 – which is where the clitoris is either partially or totally removed.

    • And in 31 per cent of victims, the clitoris and the labia minora – the ‘lips’ that surround the vagina – were partially or totally removed

    • In the cases when it was recorded whether or not the woman was pregnant, 87 per cent of women were when they came to NHS bodies

    • Doctors carried out 145 deinfibulation procedures - an operation to open up a closed vagina - on pregnant women who had been FGM victims.

    • In 18 cases, the FGM was undertaken in the UK, where the practice is illegal
    • This includes 11 women and girls who said they were born in Britain

    • It is known that ten of these cases involved genital piercings - but it is not known what type of FGM was carried out on the remaining woman or girl


    Commenting on the figures, HSCIC statistician Peter Knighton, said: 'This is the first time annual data have been collected and published to give an insight into the practice and prevalence of FGM in England.

    'The resulting data will support the Department of Health’s FGM Prevention Programme and improve the NHS response to FGM by raising awareness, enabling the provision of services and management of FGM, and safeguarding girls at risk.' 

    WHAT IS FGM? 

    Female genital mutilation is the practice in which some or all of the female genitals are removed, typically with a blade or a razor and sometimes without anaesthesia.
    This includes removing the clitoral and the fold of skin above it, and removing labia – the inner 'lips' of the vagina.
    In the most severe form, the inner and outer labia are removed and the opening of the vagina is closed with a small hole so the woman can pass urine and menstrual blood. 
    Sometimes the vagina is then cut open for sex or childbirth.
    Women sometimes bleed to death or can be left with horrifying health effects, such as infections, chronic pain, cysts, infertility and problems giving birth.
    In all there were 8,660 attendances where FGM was identified or a medical procedure for the practice was undertaken, according to the statistics, the first to be published since the government introduced compulsory reporting for NHS trusts and GP surgeries.
    The Royal College of Nursing said more had to be done to end the practice, which has been illegal in the UK since 1985….
    “What these statistics show is that there is still a lot of work to do to eradicate this abuse. A lot has been achieved in the past few years, but these efforts must continue for as long as there are still women and girls subjected to this criminal abuse.”
    The vast majority (87%) of women whose pregnancy status was known were pregnant at the time of attendance, suggesting that this was what led to FGM being self-reported or identified by a medical professional. Self-reporting accounted for 73% of FGM identification, where the identification method was known.
    Women and girls born in Somalia accounted for 37% of all newly recorded cases of FGM with a known country of birth. Of the women and girls with a known country of birth, 90% were born in Africa. Of the total number of newly recorded cases, 43 involved women and girls who said they had been born in the UK.
    More than half of all cases – 52% of newly recorded cases and 58% of total attendances – related to women and girls from the London NHS commissioning region….

    More than 20,000 girls a year are thought to be at risk of FGM in the UK. Medical groups, trade unions and human rights organisations estimate that there are 66,000 victims of the practice in England and Wales.


    Cases of female genital mutilation are skyrocketing in England not because English women are deciding that they wish to be mutilated. FGM is skyrocketing because the Muslim population is skyrocketing, and since it continues to do so, FGM is not going to be stopped in Britain. Instead, it will increasingly become the norm.
    An NSPCC spokesman said: “FGM or female circumcision is usually carried out for religious, cultural or social reasons. But let’s be clear – it is child abuse and it causes long-lasting physical and emotional damage. The practice must stop.” But it won’t, because stopping it would be “Islamophobic.” Here’s why:
    “Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr ‘clitoris’ [this is calledkhufaadh ‘female circumcision’]).” — ‘Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64
    Why is it obligatory? Because Muhammad is held to have said so: “Abu al- Malih ibn Usama’s father relates that the Prophet said: ‘Circumcision is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women.’” — Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 5:75
    “Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: ‘Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.’” — Abu Dawud 41:5251

    “Do not cut severely,” but not “Do not cut.”

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