14-year sentence for female genital mutilation

14-year sentence for genital mutilation
Ananova UK 3/3/04

Parents are expected to face prosecution for inflicting so-called female circumcision on their daughters as a result of a new law which has come into force.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said he believed people would now face investigation after a loophole in the law was closed by new legislation.

The practice, described by Mr Blunkett as "an obscenity", has been illegal in the UK since 1985 - but not a single prosecution was made under that law.

Families have been able to evade retribution by arranging for girls to have the operation during a "holiday" abroad.

Now the law applies to surgical procedures carried out overseas as well as in the UK, and increases the maximum penalty from five to 14 years' imprisonment.

The director of one charity said some cases may not become known until children born after today reach child-bearing age - and their injuries are noted by obstetricians or midwives.

"No cultural, medical or other reason can ever justify a practice that causes so much pain and suffering," said Mr Blunkett. "Regardless of cultural background, it is completely unacceptable and should be illegal wherever it takes place."

He added: "We have an obscenity here. We have abuse and mutilation.

"Where doctors come across this mutilation they have a duty to report it.

"It's critical to provide a very clear message to all professions dealing with girls that not only is female genital mutilation illegal in this country but it's illegal to allow people to go out of this country for such abuse.

"That includes teachers and social workers who previously may have thought that this was a cultural matter that they ought to stay clear of."

A wide range of ethnic minority communities perform the procedure, which involves the surgical removal of the clitoris and sometimes parts of the labia. It is designed to reduce the ability to feel sexual pleasure and increase matrimonial opportunities but has a number of harmful effects on health.

Women who have undergone female genital mutilation are twice as likely to die in childbirth and four times more likely to give birth to a stillborn child, experts say. Workers in the sector say it is typically carried out on girls aged between four and 13 but can sometimes be inflicted on new-born babies or on young women before marriage or pregnancy.

An estimated 74,000 women in the UK have undergone the procedure and a further 7,000 girls under 16 are said to be at risk in the UK.