Hospitals in London have identified nearly 1,000 women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation.



The figures are the first time statistics on the extent of the problem have been officially collected, after hospitals across England began counting cases where women had a history of female genital mutilation.



The figures show there were 740 active cases, where women with a history of FGM were already being treated prior to September, and 252 newly identified cases of FGM, where women were first identified as having undergone FGM during September, were reported across London.



Bishara Mohamud, a FGM project officer in Ealing working for Southall Community Alliance , said: "These figures are not surprising to me. But something clearly needs to be done. My main concern here is that a lot of the girls are very young children who are being born in the UK and then are at immediate risk of undergoing the procedure here in London.

"What we want to see is prosecution of those that are performing the procedures on these children. Parents we feel should not be prosecuted but rather educated against the practice. Children and girls are not going to want to see their mothers prosecuted."



Across England, there were 1,279 active cases, where women with a history of FGM were already being treated prior to September, and 467 newly identified cases of FGM, where women were first identified as having undergone FGM during September, were reported across England.



Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of

the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.



Procedures are mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15, and occasionally on adult women. The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas. In Africa, more than three million girls have been estimated to be at risk for FGM annually.



More than 125 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where it is concentrated.



In July, the UK Government hosted the Girl Summit 2014, which aimed to mobilise domestic and international efforts to end FGM and child, early and forced marriage in a generation.



As part of this, the Department of Health launched the FGM Prevention programme in partnership with NHS England. These statistics are part of ths programme in order to measure the extent of the problem as well as trying to prevent FGM and support those who are living with the consequences.