FGM: The Law, Protection Orders and Getting Help

The NHS describes female genital mutilation (FGM) as a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured or changed, with no medical reason for it. "Female Genital Mutilation" is the term used in UK law; in communities where it happens, other terms may be used, such as female circumcision or cutting.

The NHS describes four main types of FGM:

• Type 1 (clitoridectomy) — removing part or all of the clitoris.
• Type 2 (excision) — removing part or all of the clitoris and the inner labia, with or without removal of the labia majora (the larger outer lips).
• Type 3 (infibulation) — narrowing the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and repositioning the labia.
• Other harmful procedures to the female genitals, including pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping or burning the area.

In law, section 1 of the 2003 Act makes it an offence to excise, infibulate or otherwise mutilate the whole or any part of a girl's labia majora, labia minora or clitoris. No offence is committed by an approved person who performs a surgical operation that is necessary for the girl's physical or mental health, or one on a girl in labour or who has just given birth, for purposes connected with the labour or birth. An approved person is a registered medical practitioner or, for operations connected with labour or birth, also a registered midwife or someone training to become a doctor or midwife. When deciding whether an operation is necessary for mental health, it does not matter whether anyone believes it is required as a matter of custom or ritual.

The NHS says there are no health benefits to FGM and that it can cause serious harm, including constant pain, pain and difficulty having sex, repeated infections, problems peeing, and problems during labour and childbirth that can be life-threatening for mother and baby. It says FGM is usually carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15, but can also happen just before marriage, during a woman's first pregnancy and after childbirth. Some women may not remember having FGM, especially if it was done when they were an infant.

This guide covers England and Wales. The 2003 Act also extends to Northern Ireland, but sections 5B and 5C (the professional reporting duty and guidance) do not. The Act does not extend to Scotland, which has its own law, the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005.

The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 creates four main offences (the Schedules add offences for breaching an FGM Protection Order and for publishing identifying material, covered below):

• Carrying out FGM (section 1).
• Aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a girl to carry out FGM on herself (section 2).
• Aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a person who is not a UK national or UK resident to carry out FGM outside the UK on a girl who is a UK national or UK resident (section 3).
• Failing to protect a girl from the risk of FGM (section 3A) — see below.

Section 6 says that in the Act "girl" includes a woman. The Home Office FGM resource pack adds that, under general criminal law, it is also an offence to encourage or assist, attempt or conspire to commit an FGM offence, and that the same maximum penalty applies.

FGM carried out abroad

Sections 1 to 3 extend to any act done outside the United Kingdom by a UK national or a UK resident (section 4). If an offence under the Act is committed outside the UK, proceedings may be taken in any place in England and Wales or Northern Ireland. A UK resident is someone who is habitually resident in the UK, and a UK national includes a British citizen and the other kinds of British nationality listed in section 6. The Home Office resource pack says this applies even in countries where FGM is not an offence, and that the extra-territorial offences are intended to cover taking a girl abroad to be subjected to FGM.

Failing to protect a girl (section 3A)

If an FGM offence under section 1, 2 or 3 is committed against a girl under 16, each person who was responsible for her at the time the mutilation took place is guilty of an offence. A person is "responsible" for a girl in two cases: they have parental responsibility for her and frequent contact with her; or they are 18 or over and have taken on (and not given up) responsibility for caring for her in the manner of a parent.

It is a defence for the person to show either that, at the time, they did not think there was a significant risk of an FGM offence being committed against her and could not reasonably have been expected to be aware of any such risk, or that they took the steps they could reasonably have been expected to take to protect her. The offence can be committed wholly or partly outside the UK by a UK national or UK resident.

Maximum sentences

• Sections 1, 2 and 3: up to 14 years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, on conviction on indictment (section 5(1)).
• Section 3A (failing to protect): up to 7 years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, on conviction on indictment (section 5(2)).

The Crown Prosecution Service publishes prosecution guidance on how it approaches FGM cases.

An FGM Protection Order is a civil court order made under section 5A of, and Schedule 2 to, the 2003 Act. The High Court or the family court in England and Wales can make one for the purpose of protecting a girl against the commission of an FGM offence, or protecting a girl against whom an FGM offence has already been committed. For this purpose Schedule 2 defines an FGM offence as an offence under section 1, 2 or 3, so it does not include the section 3A offence. GOV.UK says you can apply even if you or the person you know has already had FGM, for example so that the victim cannot be prevented from returning to the UK.

The order can contain whatever prohibitions, restrictions, requirements and other terms the court considers appropriate. It can relate to conduct outside England and Wales as well as inside it, and to people who are involved in other ways (for example, by helping someone else to commit an FGM offence) as well as to the person who might carry it out. The Home Office gives examples such as surrendering a passport to prevent the person at risk from being taken abroad for FGM, or a requirement that nobody arranges for FGM to be performed on the person being protected. An order can be made for a specified period or until it is varied or discharged. In deciding whether to make one, the court must have regard to all the circumstances, including the need to secure the health, safety and well-being of the girl to be protected.

Who can apply

• The girl or woman who is to be protected. HMCTS guidance says adults and under-18s can apply, and that a child may have a "next friend" to help but does not have to if they have a legal representative or the court agrees.
• A relevant third party, who does not need the court's permission. The Female Genital Mutilation Protection Order (Relevant Third Party) Regulations 2015, in force from 17 July 2015, specify local authorities in England and Wales.
• Anyone else, with the court's permission. The Home Office gives the police, a teacher, a charity or a family member as examples. In deciding whether to give permission, the court must have regard to all the circumstances, including the applicant's connection with the girl and their knowledge of her circumstances.

An application can be made in other family proceedings or on its own. The court can also make an order without an application where other family proceedings are already before it, it considers an order should be made to protect a girl, and a person who would be a respondent is a party to those proceedings. A criminal court dealing with an offence under section 1, 2 or 3 in England and Wales can likewise make an order, without an application, where a person who would be a respondent is a defendant.

Other protection

Schedule 2 says an FGM Protection Order does not affect any other protection or assistance available to a girl who is or may become a victim of an FGM offence. It lists, among other things, the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court, any criminal liability, non-molestation and occupation orders under Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996, any right to a forced marriage protection order under Part 4A of that Act, and protection or assistance under the Children Act 1989. See Forced Marriage Protection Orders if forced marriage is also a concern.

This section summarises GOV.UK and HMCTS guidance (FGM700). Check those pages and the court you apply to for the current forms and procedure.

1. Fill in the forms. GOV.UK says to complete form FGM001. If you are applying for someone else and need the court's permission you also need form FGM006, and form C8 if you do not want your address, or the address of the person you are applying for, to be shared with the respondent.
2. Get help if you need it. GOV.UK says Citizens Advice can help with your application, and that you can ask a solicitor to apply for you; you might be able to get legal aid. The Home Office resource pack says civil legal aid is available to victims, potential victims and third parties who seek to make, vary or discharge an FGM Protection Order, subject to the relevant means and merits criteria.
3. Ask for urgent protection if you need it. The court can be asked to consider the application straightaway and make an order without the respondent being given the usual notice (a "without notice" order) where it is just and convenient. The law says the court must consider, among other things, the risk of FGM if an order is not made immediately, whether the applicant is likely to be deterred or prevented from applying otherwise, and whether the respondent is deliberately evading service. HMCTS guidance says that if you apply without notice you must make a written statement, with a statement of truth, setting out why you need protection. The court must then give the respondent a chance to make representations at a further hearing as soon as just and convenient.
4. Send the forms to the court. GOV.UK says to post or take them to the court you are applying to; HMCTS guidance has a court finder for courts that deal with FGM Protection Order applications and says an application can also be sent by email.
5. Go to the hearing. GOV.UK says it will be held in private (HMCTS guidance adds: "unless the court otherwise directs"). If you are worried about seeing the respondent, HMCTS guidance says to say so on your application form: courts may be able to offer separate waiting rooms and entrances, and the court may order screens, video-recorded evidence or a video link. If you need an interpreter, tell the court, giving the language and dialect.
6. Serving the papers. HMCTS guidance says an individual applicant must not serve the application or order on the respondent themselves; if you have no legal representative you can ask the court to arrange service by a court bailiff, free of charge, using form D89. It also says the court emails the order to the police within 24 hours of it being sealed. The GOV.UK page says the protection order must be given ("served") to the police and to anyone else named in it, and that you can give it to them yourself or the court can do it for you, so ask the court or your solicitor how service will be handled in your case.

HMCTS guidance says there is no court fee to apply for an FGM Protection Order, for yourself or for someone else, or for additional procedures such as applying to vary or discharge an order or asking for a court bailiff to serve the order.

GOV.UK says you can apply on form FGM003 to extend, change (vary) or cancel (discharge) an order, and on form FGM007 to add someone to the order if you believe they are also at risk of FGM, or to remove someone who is no longer at risk.

A person who, without reasonable excuse, does anything that an FGM Protection Order prohibits them from doing is guilty of an offence (Schedule 2, paragraph 4). The maximum sentence is 5 years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, on conviction on indictment; on summary conviction it is imprisonment up to the general limit in a magistrates' court, a fine, or both. If the order was made without notice, a person can be guilty only for conduct at a time when they were aware the order existed.

HMCTS guidance says you can report a breach to the police, and the Crown Prosecution Service then decides whether to prosecute. Alternatively you can apply to the family court to have the breach dealt with as contempt of court, and for an arrest warrant, on form FGM005. The application must be substantiated on oath, and the judge must have reasonable grounds for believing the order has not been complied with. HMCTS guidance says contempt can lead to a prison sentence of up to 2 years. A person convicted of the criminal offence cannot also be punished for contempt for the same conduct, and the reverse also applies. If the Crown Prosecution Service decides not to prosecute, HMCTS guidance says you can still apply to the family court for a warrant of arrest for contempt of court.

Section 4A of, and Schedule 1 to, the 2003 Act give lifelong anonymity to a person against whom an FGM offence is alleged to have been committed. Once an allegation has been made, no matter likely to lead members of the public to identify the person as the person against whom the offence is alleged to have been committed may be included in any publication during their lifetime. The Crown Prosecution Service says the prohibition begins as soon as the allegation is made, so that the person is protected whatever the outcome of the investigation or prosecution, and that "publication" is given a broad meaning that includes social media. Schedule 1 says that any consent of the person to the act giving rise to the alleged offence does not stop them being regarded as a person against whom the offence was committed.

Each person responsible for a publication that breaks the prohibition is guilty of an offence. A criminal court (a magistrates' court or the Crown Court) can direct that the restriction does not apply, wholly or in part, in only two situations: where the conduct of a person's defence at a trial of an FGM offence would be substantially prejudiced if it did not, or where the restriction imposes a substantial and unreasonable restriction on the reporting of the proceedings and it is in the public interest to remove or relax it. A person charged with the publication offence has a defence if they prove that the person the allegation concerns (the alleged victim) had given written consent to matter of that description appearing in the publication (Schedule 1, paragraph 3(3)). That defence is not available if the alleged victim was under 16 when she gave her consent, or if someone interfered unreasonably with her peace and comfort with a view to obtaining it (paragraph 3(4)).

Section 5B of the 2003 Act, which applies in England and Wales, requires a person who works in a regulated profession to notify the police if, in the course of their work, they discover that an act of FGM appears to have been carried out on a girl who is aged under 18. The regulated professions are:

• healthcare professionals registered with a regulatory body within the remit of the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (the Home Office procedural information names bodies such as the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council);
• teachers; and
• social care workers in Wales (registered social care workers, as defined in section 5B(11)).

The Home Office procedural information (accessible version published 2020) lists the Health and Care Professions Council, "whose role includes the regulation of social workers in England", among the regulators whose registrants are covered by the duty. It was written when social workers in England were regulated by that Council; they are now regulated by Social Work England.

A person "discovers" FGM in two cases: the girl tells them that FGM, however described, has been carried out on her; or they observe physical signs on the girl appearing to show that FGM has been carried out and have no reason to believe it was part of a permitted surgical operation (section 1(2)(a) or (b)). The notification goes to the chief officer of police for the area where the girl lives, must identify her and explain why it is being made, may be made orally or in writing, and must be made before the end of one month from when the person first discovers it. The Home Office procedural information recommends calling 101, the police non-emergency number, and says the expectation is that reports will be made much sooner than the one-month limit. Making the notification does not breach any duty of confidence. The duty does not apply if the person has reason to believe another person in the same profession has already notified the police about the same act.

The Home Office procedural information says the duty is limited to "known" cases: it does not apply to suspected cases or to girls thought to be at risk, and it does not apply where the woman is 18 or over when FGM is disclosed or discovered, even if she was under 18 when it happened. In those situations professionals are told to follow local safeguarding procedures. For a case where the victim is 18 or over, it says professionals should consider whether others in the family may be at risk. It also says that failure to comply by a health or social care professional may be considered through fitness to practise proceedings by their regulator, and that for teachers, schools consider a failure under their staff disciplinary procedures.

• If someone is in immediate danger, the NHS says to contact the police immediately by dialling 999.
• If you are worried you or someone you know may be at risk, the NHS says to speak to a teacher or an adult you trust. Its FGM page also lists contact details for an NSPCC helpline and for Childline (0800 1111), and says that if you are under pressure to have FGM done on your daughter you can ask a GP, your health visitor or another healthcare professional for help.
• NHS care. The NHS says that if you have had FGM you can get help from a specialist NHS gynaecologist or FGM service, and to ask a GP, your midwife or any other healthcare professional about services in your area.
• National FGM Support Clinics. The NHS says these clinics offer a range of support services for women with FGM. The services are provided by an all-female team and may include physical assessment and treatment (including deinfibulation if required), emotional support and counselling, general information, access to FGM Health Advocates, and referral to a specialist consultant if needed. The service is free to access for anyone eligible for NHS care. Referrals from GPs and other healthcare professionals are encouraged, but you can also use walk-in appointments or a self-referral service. The NHS page lists the clinics by region of England, with contact details and opening times. If you are under 18, it says support is available through the specialist paediatric service at University College London Hospitals (UCLH).
• Pregnancy. The NHS says your midwife should ask whether you have had FGM at your first antenatal (booking) appointment, and that telling them helps them arrange appropriate care for you and your baby. It says deinfibulation (an operation to open up the vaginal entrance) should be carried out before getting pregnant if possible, and ideally by 20 weeks if it is done during pregnancy.
• Mental health. The NHS says FGM can cause emotional difficulties throughout life, including depression, anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares and other sleep problems, post-traumatic stress disorder and self-harm. It says to talk to a GP or another healthcare professional, and that help and support is available.
• Travelling abroad. GOV.UK publishes a statement opposing female genital mutilation, often referred to as a health passport. The NHS says it highlights that FGM is a serious criminal offence in the UK. The Home Office resource pack describes it as a way for a woman or girl who is taken abroad to undergo FGM to show people in her country of destination that FGM is illegal in the UK, and the NHS suggests printing it and carrying it with you. Think carefully before showing it to relatives. If you are worried that doing so could put you at risk, talk first to a teacher or adult you trust, or to Childline (0800 1111), and call 999 if you are in immediate danger in the UK. If you are already abroad, GOV.UK's FGM help and advice page explains how to contact the Foreign Office or the nearest British embassy. The Home Office resource pack says the Forced Marriage Unit can also assist British nationals overseas who are at risk of FGM.