The NHS handled 85 new cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Hackney and the City of London last year, according to figures released this week.
NHS Digital’s annual FGM report, which groups the two boroughs together, also shows the total number of FGM-related attendances across the UK dropped to 9,179 last year – just 0.5 per cent less than the 9,223 in 2015.
Ninety-five per cent of the women who were asked said they underwent FGM before the age of 18.
Commenting on the figures, a spokesperson for children’s charity NSPCC said: “Once more, these figures highlight that FGM continues to affect hundreds of girls and women living in communities across England.
“FGM is child abuse. Despite being illegal for over 30 years, too many people are still being subjected to it and it is right that health services have started to properly record evidence of this horrendous practice.”
The government introduced mandatory reporting of FGM cases in October 2015.
