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LGA responds to latest FGM figures

Cllr Simon Blackburn, Chair of the Safer and Stronger Communities Board at the Local Government Association, which runs the National FGM Centre in partnership with Barnardo’s, responded to new quarterly statistics released by NHS Digital about the number of identified cases of FGM in England from April to June 2017

“There have been nearly 12,700 new cases of FGM identified over the past two years, which highlights the size of the challenge facing all agencies seeking an end to this horrific form of abuse.

“While it is encouraging that newly recorded cases of FGM have fallen slightly since the previous quarter, fewer GP practices and NHS trusts submitted an FGM attendance record. It is crucial that health trusts and GP practices continue to submit FGM attendance records to help build reliable and accurate figures reflecting the prevalence of FGM across the country.

“In the areas where the National FGM Centre is working, social work provision to girls and families affected by FGM has been quickly and significantly improved through the intervention of the Centre’s social workers, who are embedded in council safeguarding teams. Hundreds of referrals have been received in areas that previously only recorded a handful of cases each year.

“The government funding boost for the Centre earlier this year will mean it can continue its pioneering prevention and intervention work, enabling it to continue to have effective impact on reducing FGM by modelling good practice, sharing expert knowledge and building trusting relationships with families and communities with which they are engaged.

“It is vital that the work of the Centre continues to help the Government fulfil its promise to end FGM in the UK within a generation.”

Notes

The NHS Digital quarterly figures show that there 1,178 newly recorded cases of FGM (fewer than the 1,365 in the previous quarter) in England from April to June 2017, of which 19 cases involved girls under the age of 18 and 16 cases were those in which FGM was undertaken in the UK.

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