A harrowing report by the Independent has shown no-one has been convicted for mutilating the genitals of young girls and that records are most likely not to be kept on cases by local authorities. 

Freedom of Information requests showed only 50 out of 500 hospitals and local education authorities kept records on the illegal practice of female genital mutilation.

The Independent report:

Freedom of Information requests to more than 500 hospitals and local education authorities found that fewer than 50 kept records of women and girls who were found to have suffered FGM, believed to have undergone the procedure or suspected of being at risk. Many police forces refused to release data, citing “confidentiality” and “sensitivity”.

However, of those that reported cases, the Whittington Hospital in London and St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, both recorded some 450 instances of female genital mutilation during the past three years.

Dudley council revealed that it had received reports involving three children “aged between newborn to four years of age”, and four young adults. Newport council reported that a pupil aged eight was prevented from leaving the country as it was suspected that she might be a victim of FGM while abroad.

You can read the full story here. 

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.