FGM 'cutters' to be banned from Britain as new law comes into force

 
“Help is out there”: justice minister Caroline Dinenage said protection orders would help save young girls from mutilation

Courts will be able to stop suspected overseas “cutters” from coming to Britain under a law that comes into force today to protect girls from female genital mutilation.

The legislation, which permits “FGM protection orders” to be issued for the first time, will also allow passports to be seized from people who want to take girls abroad for mutilation. Orders barring family members from conspiring or encouraging others to commit mutilation will also be available to the courts under the new powers.

The initial restrictions will be imposed using civil powers, but breach of an order will be a criminal offence carrying a potential prison sentence of up to five years.

Announcing the launch of the new powers today, justice minister Caroline Dinenage said that they would help the Government to stop the “barbaric” mutilation of girls.

“Protection orders are an extremely important step in making sure young women and girls who face the threat of FGM are kept safe,” she said.

“These girls and the communities around them now know that the law is on their side and help is out there. We will not stop until this horrific practice is stamped out.”

Those who can apply to the courts for the protection orders include teachers, doctors, local authorities and even members of the public who fear that a girl is at risk.

The courts will decide whether sufficient evidence exists and be able to impose an order in any case where the danger is judged to be real.

Specific powers under the legislation will allow anyone suspected of wanting to bringing a “cutter” to Britain to be banned from doing so.

The measure reflects the police belief that some mutilation is being carried out in Britain and is intended to stop families enlisting the help of women from countries where the practice remains prevalent.

The power to confiscate passports — which could also be used to seize a potential victim’s passport — is aimed at preventing travel for mutilation in the opposite direction, under which British girls are taken abroad to be cut.

The new FGM protection orders are modelled on the existing forced marriage protection orders.

Figures show that 860 of these have been issued so far to prevent young women in Britain being taken overseas to be married against their will.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in