(Last reviewed 11/01/2025)
Relevant Guidance and Standards
Guidance for Training, Support and Development and Standards for Foster Carers (TSDS)
• Standard 2: Understand your role as a foster carer
• Standard 4: Know how to communicate effectively
• Standard 6: Keep children and young people safe from harm
Fostering Services National Minimum Standards (England) 2011:
• Standard 4 – Safeguarding Children
• Standard 6 – Promoting Good Health and Wellbeing
Legal framework
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is illegal in the United Kingdom. It is also illegal for UK nationals or permanent UK residents to perform FGM overseas or to help, advise, or arrange for FGM to be carried out abroad, even where the practice is legal.
• Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985
• The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003
• FGM Protection Order: a civil order that can be made to protect a girl from FGM
• Serious Crime Act 2015 – introduces a mandatory reporting duty requiring regulated professionals to report every known case of FGM in anyone under 18 to the police. The duty applies when regulated health or social-care professionals or teachers in England and Wales:
• are told by a girl under 18 that FGM has been carried out on her, or
• see or otherwise recognise physical signs that FGM has been carried out on a girl under 18
• Children Act 1989, s.47 – a child for whom FGM is planned is at risk of significant physical and emotional harm; some also classify it as sexual abuse
Mandatory duty to report a case of FGM
• If a child is thought to be at risk of FGM, the agency or professional must act quickly—before the child is subjected to the procedure in the UK or taken abroad.
• Any information or concern that a child is at immediate risk of, or has experienced, FGM must be reported to LA children’s social care/LASW/TM as soon as possible as a child-protection referral, and the same professional must report it to the police (see Safeguarding Policy). The duty cannot be passed on or delegated.
How to complete a “Mandatory Duty to Report a Case of FGM” (see flow-chart at the end of this policy)
• Call 999 if the risk is immediate, or 101 if it is not immediate, and state: “I am carrying out my Mandatory Duty to Report a case of FGM.”
• Provide your details: name, contact information, role, and place of work.
• Provide the details of your organisation’s Designated Safeguarding Lead.
• Provide the girl’s details: name, age/date of birth, address, and wider family information (if known). Record the police reference number you are given.
This reference number confirms that you have met the MANDATORY DUTY TO REPORT a case of FGM.
• The agency must also complete its internal Incident Report Form and send it to the LA within 24 hours.
• The Registered Manager must submit an Ofsted notification within 24 hours. If the Registered Manager is absent, the Team Manager completes this.
• The agency must attend any strategy meetings and follow any LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) actions arising from them.
Definition of FGM
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as:
“All procedures (not operations) that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons” (WHO 1996, updated 2017).
FGM is sometimes called female circumcision, but “FGM” is preferred because “mutilation” more accurately reflects the physical and emotional harm.
FGM is a complex issue. Despite the serious harm it causes, many women from practising communities see FGM as a normal part of cultural identity.
Types of FGM
WHO describes four main types of FGM. All types carry high risks of infection (including HIV), complications, and even death. Procedures are often performed without sterile conditions or clean instruments and are usually carried out by female elders (WHO 2015).
Type I – Clitoridectomy
Partial or total removal of the clitoris (clitoridectomy) and/or the prepuce (clitoral hood). Although sometimes described as the least severe, it is performed on only a small number of girls and women.
Type II – Excision
Partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without removal of the labia majora.
Type III – Infibulation / Pharaonic circumcision
Narrowing the vaginal opening by cutting and repositioning the labia minora and/or labia majora, with or without removal of the clitoris, leaving a small opening for urine and menstrual blood (infibulation). This is the most extensive form of FGM.
A reverse infibulation may be performed to allow sexual intercourse or during labour. In some communities, the man forces reverse infibulation during the first sexual act to demonstrate virility.
Women who have been infibulated may face serious childbirth complications, including severe tearing or foetal death if the birth canal is not opened.
Severe physical and psychological complications are more common after infibulation than after other forms of FGM. Limited research notes that many women feel intense pressure to conform and may experience anxiety and depression.
Type IV – Unclassified / Other
All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes—such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, and cauterising.
Examples include pricking the clitoris with needles, burning or scarring the genitals, and tearing the vagina.
WHO cites several reasons why FGM persists:
• custom and tradition
• the mistaken belief that FGM is a religious requirement—though neither the Bible nor the Qur’an requires it
• preserving virginity or chastity
• social acceptance, particularly for marriage
• beliefs about hygiene and cleanliness
• increasing sexual pleasure for men
• family honour
• a sense of belonging and fear of social exclusion
• perceptions that it enhances fertility
FGM is commonly performed on girls aged 4 to 13, but it can occur in infancy or before marriage or pregnancy. Depending on cultural tradition, FGM may take place:
• when a girl nears puberty
• when a girl is about to marry, become sexually active, or seeks a husband
• as part of a wedding ceremony (noting that some countries permit child marriage)
Countries where FGM is practised
Girls living in communities that practise FGM face the highest risk, whether in the UK or abroad. The Home Office identifies the following UK communities as higher-risk:
• Somali
• Kenyan
• Ethiopian
• Sierra Leonean
• Sudanese
• Egyptian
• Nigerian
• Eritrean
• Yemeni
• Kurdish
• Indonesian
Other words for FGM:
• Gudniin (Somalia, Djibouti)
• Halalays (Somalia, Sierra Leone)
• Khitan (Egypt, Singapore)
• Sunna (Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Indonesia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria)
• Tahur (Sudan)
(Source: nationalfgmcentre.org.uk)
Identifying a child who has been subjected to FGM or who is at risk of FGM
Indications that FGM may be planned
• The family comes from a community known to practise FGM (especially alongside any of the following).
• A child talks about a long holiday to her country of origin or to another country where FGM is common, including in Africa and the Middle East.
• A child tells a professional she will have a “special procedure” or attend a special event.
• A child asks a teacher or another adult for help.
• Any female child born to a woman who has experienced FGM must be considered at risk, as must other female children in the extended family.
• A midwife or obstetrician discovers FGM when caring for a pregnant woman; this should trigger prevention work for any female child in the family.
• Any female child with a sister who has already experienced FGM must be considered at risk, as must other female children in the wider family.
Indications that FGM may already have taken place
• A child spends long periods away from class with bladder or menstrual problems if she has undergone Type III FGM.
• A prolonged absence from school followed by noticeable behaviour changes could indicate recent FGM.
• Professionals must notice the emotional and psychological needs of children coping with FGM consequences (e.g. withdrawal, depression).
• A child asks to be excused from PE lessons without supporting medical evidence from her GP.
• A child directly asks for help.
FGM is medically unnecessary, extremely painful, and has serious immediate and long-term health consequences. It offers no health benefits, damages healthy genital tissue, and interferes with natural body functions. Many women are unaware of the link between FGM and health problems—especially complications during sexual intercourse and childbirth, which can occur many years later.
Stage 1 – Trauma-Informed Rewrite (structure preserved)
Responding to FGM: If a child reveals FGM abuse
A child who has experienced, or is worried about, FGM may not recognise that what is happening is wrong and may even blame themselves. It is important to:
• listen calmly and attentively to what they are sharing
• reassure them that speaking up was the right thing to do
• affirm that it is not their fault
• assure them that you will take their words seriously
• avoid confronting the person they have identified as responsible
• explain, in plain language, what you will do next
• record and report their disclosure as soon as possible (see below)
Links:
• Mandatory Reporting of Female Genital Mutilation – procedural information https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mandatory-reporting-of-female-genitalmutilation-procedural-information
• Multi-Agency Statutory Guidance on Female Genital Mutilation https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/800306/6-1914-HO-Multi_Agency_Statutory_Guidance.pdf
• Working Together to Safeguard Children, Department for Education 2018 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/779401/Working_Together_to_Safeguard-Children.pdf
• London Child Protection Procedures: Safeguarding children at risk of abuse through female genital mutilation (FGM) http://www.londoncp.co.uk/chapters/sg_ch_risk_fgm.html?zoom_highlight=fgm
• Female Genital Mutilation Risk and Safeguarding Guidance for professionals: Department of Health https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-women-and-girls-atrisk-of-fgm
• HM Government – Ending Violence against Women and Girls 2016-20 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/783596/VAWG_Strategy_Refresh_Web_Accessible.pdf
Resources:
• The NHS website provides survivor videos and multilingual leaflets about FGM. It also offers the ‘FGM health passport’, which clearly states that FGM is illegal in the UK. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/femalegenital-mutilation-fgm/
• The National FGM Centre is a charity dedicated to educating people about FGM and ending the practice. Its site includes extensive information, including child-friendly content such as a video explaining the FGM medical exam. nationalfgmcentre.org.uk
• Daughters of Eve is a not-for-profit organisation that supports girls and women affected by FGM. It lists support services and clinics and runs a helpline: 07983 030 488. http://www.dofeve.org/
• The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) provides practical, accessible guidance on discussing FGM with a child. It also offers an anonymous FGM helpline: 0800 028 3550 or email fgm.help@nspcc.org.uk. https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
