The NSPCC has revealed that they get a call every single day from someone worried about female genital mutilation (FGM).
They launched their helpline in June 2013.
The charity has now revealed that they have been contacted more than 1,500 times, with around a third of concerns serious enough to be referred to police or social services.
Worried callers have included those contacting the helpline with fears for babies who they believed were at risk of FGM.
FGM has been a criminal offence in the UK for 30 years, and in 2003 it also became a criminal offence for UK nationals or permanent UK residents to take their child abroad to have female genital mutilation.
Despite this, there is yet to be a successful prosecution for the offence.
One doctor told the NSPCC helpline:
“I have suspicions in relation to a child that I think may have been flown out of the country for the FGM procedure.
“The child was brought into my surgery today but the parent wouldn’t allow me to perform an internal examination on the child. The parent was adamant that the child would be checked abroad instead.”
