A raft of new measures to combat the "brutal" crime have been unveiled today and ministers defended the failed prosecution of a doctor accused of carrying out the banned tradition in the UK.
At a meeting outlining the scale of the problem across the UK, Public Health Minister Jane Ellison said: “FGM devastates the lives of women and girls and we are committed to ending this brutal practice in one generation.
“I am immensely proud of this government’s legacy and continued work to end FGM.
"The measures announced today will help the NHS fulfil its duty to care for women who have had FGM, protect them and their daughters from further harm and prevent girls from being mutilated.”
FGM has been a criminal offence in the UK since 1985 while in 2003 it also became illegal for UK nationals or permanent UK residents to take their child abroad to have female genital mutilation.
Anyone found guilty of the offence faces a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
The first ever prosecution ended in a not guilty verdict earlier this week and concerns have been raised by medics that health care professionals are now fearful of treating FGM victims in case they are criminalised.
Today at the Zero Tolerance to FGM summit in London, Crime Prevention Minister Lynne Featherstone told Express.co.uk that she hoped the case would raise awareness about the issue among the medical profession.
She said: "It's an acquittal but I think the shockwaves that went out through the medical profession when the arrest was announced will have had quite a salutary effect.
"What it says to me is that the royal medical colleges need to look at their training.
"If the rationale around was 'I didn't know' or whatever, then perhaps there's something missing.
"My own view - not on this case because I can't comment - is that a gynaecologist should know what [FGM] looks like."
New guidelines on FGM were issued for nurses and midwives today following the trial while today £3.6million was pledged in funding to a number of initiatives.
The Royal College of Nursing updated its guidance and demanded the Government "ensure healthcare staff have comprehensive training and support to help tackle the abuse".
There has still been no successful prosecution in England or Wales since the practice was outlawed 29 years ago.
Ms Featherstone said: "If it was boys having half their penises cut off that should explain why this is a massive issue, It's the same thing.
"But because it's girls and because it's been practised for 4,000 years somehow that makes it okay. It does not. That's why it's massive.
"It's child abuse, it's against our laws, it has to end."
Ms Featherstone blasted the idea of FGM as a cultural norm.
She said: "That's just the worst excuse.
"It has gone on for 4,000 years but now Africa itself where this is most endemic has outlawed this in 25 countries.
"The African Union, the United Nations have banned it worldwide because as the world has moved on, patriarchal societies that have social norms that keep women at the bottom of the pile are beginning to change.
"There can be nothing more totemic in terms of violence against women than cutting off the clitoris and the labia."
She added: "We're trampling all over cultural eggshells now.
"But nevertheless this is a private and personal area. Anyone talking about those parts of their body is going to be sensitive.
"We have to give our front line workers the confidence, the information, the knowledge, the referral system, to actually address both suspicion and actual FGM."
FGM involves procedures that include the partial or total removal of the external female genital organs for non-medical reasons - often without anaesthetic.
FGM has no health benefits whatsoever and can cause ongoing health problems, particularly during childbirth.
The age at which girls undergo the cruel procedure varies enormously according to community and culture but may be carried out shortly after birth, during childhood or adolescence, just before marriage or during a first pregnancy.
To mark an international day of zero tolerance on FGM, ministers explained how more is to be done to tackle the mutilation of young women.
New mandatory requirements will ensure GPs and mental health trusts record incidences of FGM, while clinicians will also be able to note on a child's health record that they are potentially at risk of FGM.
Funding of £1.6million will be poured into the next stage of an FGM prevention programme, which will improve the NHS' response to the abuse.
An additional £2million will also be given to a brand new programme backed by children's charity Barnardo's and the Local Government Association to create a team of social workers who specialise in working with those who have experienced or may be at risk of FGM.
Frontline health workers will also be thoroughly trained in how to communicate with patients about the highly sensitive issue.
An estimated 130 million women and girls around the world are through to be living with FGM.
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