An increasing number of new born and infant girls in the UK are having their genitals mutilated, FGM expert and barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman has told the Vitoria Derbyshire Programme.
FGM, which involves the removal of part or all of a girls external genitalia, is very common amongst the Muslim population in the UK. In 2016 more than 9,000 girls sought medical help from the NHS in England alone, suffering from FGM.
The practice is illegal and can carry a sentence of 14 years in prison but is very rarely prosecuted in the UK.
Now experts are warning that many girls are being subjected to FGM at much younger ages as it is more likely to go undetected.
West Yorkshire police admitted after a freedom of information request that a quarter of admitted to hospital after suffering complications from FGM were under the age of three.
In Ireland the HSE estimates almost 4,000 girls have been genitally mutilated since 2011 with the numbers continuing to increase steadily as the country’s Muslim population grows rapidly.
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