“There have now been 22,500 new cases of FGM identified in just over four years, which highlights the size of the challenge facing all agencies seeking an end to this form of abuse, which is destroying the lives of children and young people in communities across the country."
In response to new quarterly figures published today by NHS Digital about the number of identified cases of FGM in England from July 2019 to September 2019, Cllr Anita Lower, the Local Government Association’s FGM lead spokesperson and Chair of the Advisory Board at the National FGM Centre, which the LGA runs in partnership with Barnardo’s, said:
“There have now been 22,500 new cases of FGM identified in just over four years, which highlights the size of the challenge facing all agencies seeking an end to this form of abuse, which is destroying the lives of children and young people in communities across the country.
“Social workers have become better at identifying the signs of FGM and faith and belief-related abuse, but the true incidence rate is likely to be higher as these crimes are under-reported.
“The work of the National FGM Centre is vital to help end FGM and prevent this abuse from happening in the first place, as well as offering support to victims and those at risk.
“Councils are determined to tackle the practice of FGM and work with partner organisations to do everything possible to protect and support children and young people.
“To support this goal, the next government needs to ensure councils have the funding to address the huge demand for help from children and their families and maximise the effectiveness of prevention and intervention work.”
Notes to editors
The NHS Digital figures show that there were 940 newly recorded cases of FGM in England from July 2019 to September 2019. There have been 22,500 newly recorded cases of FGM between Q2 2015 and Q3 2019.