If you are a teacher or a health worker and you think a girl has been subjected to genital mutilation, you now must report it.
The government is going to make it a legal requirement in the coming months, although details of how the new law will be enforced still have to be worked out. A new report estimates that about 137,000 women and girls are affected in England and Wales, with the highest number living in London.
The minister in charge of tackling female genital mutilation (FGM) admits it’s “a very difficult thing”.
FGM: What is female genital mutilation? Debunking the myths
Karen Bradley, minister for preventing abuse and exploitation, told Newsbeat: “It is the case where there is sometimes nobody in the family who thinks this is unacceptable.
“But we need to reach out to isolated communities, and say this isn’t part of the shared values here in Britain. This is not the way to behave. There is no cultural, religious, or political excuse. This is child abuse.”
Part of the plan to tackle it is to get more border staff at airports trained up on how to spot the signs of FGM, but also forced marriage and trafficking.
This already happens at Manchester and Gatwick airports. At Heathrow Airport in London, 200,000 people leave and arrive every day.
Read More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/33626605/how-border-guards-are-trained-to-spot-potential-fgm-victims
Tags: bbc, border, FGM, halo project, london
