New guidelines to target families that take young girls abroad to undergo female genital mutilation are being sent to prosecutors by the government.

Ministers want to encourage more action against those who inflict the brutal procedure on their children and relatives amid concerns that the current approach serves as little deterrent.

Female genital mutilation is an illegal procedure in the UK with those convicted risking 14 years' imprisonment. The Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2003 also allows for the prosecution of British citizens who breach the provisions of the act and perform the procedure abroad.

But while the law seems strict on paper, it seems to have limited effect in practice. Campaigners say 22,000 girls are at risk each year. However, MPs were this week told that there has yet to be a single conviction, despite 100 investigations being carried out over two years by the Met. By contrast the French authorities have successfully prosecuted in 100 cases.

Fears are currently acute because the long school summer holidays are when many girls are flown to Africa, the Middle East and parts of the far east, oblivious to what has been planned for them.

Outlining the new approach to the House of Commons, the Home Office minister Jeremy Wright said: "There are a number of things we can do. We should look not only to punish those who are responsible for committing these offences but to improve the guidance available to prosecutors so that they can prosecute more often. If there are difficulties with prosecuting, they might be to do with the types of information and understanding that crown prosecutors need to have and later this summer the CPS will therefore be issued with new guidelines to assist."

Advice compiled by the Home Office, Foreign Office, the education department and the health department will also be sent to teachers and GPs, the minister said. "We need to broaden awareness more generally and have sent out some 40,000 leaflets and 40,000 posters to schools, health services, charities and community groups, because wider society needs to understand what is happening," he added. "We also need to assist victims, which we are doing with 15 specialist NHS clinics offering a range of services, including so-called reversal surgery. Women can go to those centres direct and do not need to be referred."

The minister was responding to Jane Ellison, the Tory MP for Battersea, who made an impassioned plea for the issue to be taken more seriously. She described genital mutilation as "a brutal crime perpetrated against those who are least able to protect themselves: little girls and young women. In every case, the health of the girl or woman is damaged, often irreparably. What is most shocking of all is that a great many of these criminal acts are perpetrated against girls aged 10 and under, right down to infants."

Ellison quoted figures from the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (Forward), which suggest that around 66,000 women and girls in England and Wales have already been subject to genital mutilation and well over 22,000 should be considered as "at risk". "In some areas of London, about 5% of women giving birth present with signs of mutilation," she told the house.

"Headteachers have described to me happy and outgoing young girls who have returned from their summer holidays withdrawn and distressed. I struggle to understand why the systematic and brutal wounding of young girls is not considered a national scandal. I know that right honourable and honourable members would not tolerate a situation in which little British girls were taken abroad and returned missing their fingers. Likewise, we should not tolerate female genital mutilation."

Two weeks ago the Met and the charity Kids Taskforce launched a teaching aid for schools: a short documentary made by pupils in south London with assistance from journalists from ITN and one of the producers of Come Dine With Me. Sharon Doughty, the founder of Kids Taskforce, said they hope to raise awareness among teachers but also pupils themselves.

"Any move towards a prosecution would be a fantastic development. We need a prosecution. It would send an important message."

Video: Watch Guardian Films' investigation into the issue