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A Birmingham hospital has dealt with 1,500 cases of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in just five years.

The shocking statistic was discussed this week at a meeting of the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel.

Members were told that cases of the sickening practice peaked at Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital in 2013 with 349 recorded victims - nearly 20 per cent more than the previous year.

It means around six victims are dealt with at the Bordesley Green-based hospital every single week, showing the true scale of the hidden crime.

FGM has been illegal in the UK since 1984, and since 2003 anyone taking a child out of the UK for the barbaric practice faces 14 years in prison.

Despite the rise in hospital cases and an increase in reports to police in 2014 there has not been a single conviction in the UK.

The Heartlands figures were cited to the panel by Home Office expert Stephen Rimmer, in his report about preventing violence in vulnerable people in the West Midlands.

The hospital told the Mail that it deals with an average of six cases every single week and added that all of the victims had been mutilated abroad during childhood.

The panel was told by the Muslim Women’s Network that the current support and counselling for victims was simply not good enough.

It added that many of the survivors suffer weekly flashbacks.

The charity said the latest case it uncovered was just last week and involved a young Yemeni girl from an unnamed Birmingham school.

The Digbeth-based charity said it was regularly contacted by people in the West Midlands who were victims of FGM. It now runs a number of awareness raising workshops with girls inside Birmingham schools, but added that it had particularly struggled to engage with the Yemeni community.

Shaista Gohir MBE, who is chair of the charity, told the panel: “We need to get funding for specific counselling in this area.

“There is a significant population in this region where FGM is practiced.”

Detective Superintendent Tim Bacon, the force lead for safeguarding children, told the meeting that a police campaign was launched last July to raise awareness about FGM.

He added that there had been 118 reports of suspected cases in 2014 and that every single officer in the force had received training around FGM.

Despite a lack of convictions he confirmed to the panel that police emergency protection orders had been issued in some of the cases to protect children.

He said: “This is a form of child abuse and we will investigate every single case, but we do also rely on our partners.

“There were no reports of this happening in 2001, 2002 or 2003. In 2012 we had 25 reports and between January and November of 2014 there were 118 reports to us.

“That is the difference in the awareness of this between the years.”

Det Supt Bacon said convictions had been difficult because of a current legal loophole that means victims who are taken abroad have to be permanent UK citizens for a prosecution to be possible.

He added that the government was working on closing the loophole to cover all those who live in the UK instead. He added that there was also plans to introduce an offence of failing to protect a child as part of the changes in the law.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said he welcomed the inquiry into the “deeply unpleasant practice.”

He added: “Reporting has substantially increased, but it is still probably not the full picture, but we are heading in the right direction.

“All of the emphasis has to be about prevention and stopping this from happening in the first place.”

* For advice and support about FGM you can contact the Muslim Women’s Network via 0121 236 9000, www.mwnuk.co.uk , or contact@mwnuk.co.uk.

The National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) also runs a free 24-hour FGM helpline on 0800 028 3550 or fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk.

FGM cases at Heartlands



2009 - 232

2010 - 317

2011 - 316

2012 - 288

2013 - 349

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a form of child abuse common to some African, Asian and Middle Eastern communities in the UK.

The illegal and life-threatening initiation ritual can leave young victims in agony and with physical and psychological problems that can continue into adulthood.

It is the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It’s also known as female circumcision, cutting or sunna.

The rituals are carried out in secret and often without anaesthetic with the victims usually aged between four and 10, but some are babies.

Nobody has been convicted of FGM related offences in the UK but it carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 14 years.

It is illegal to take a child out of the country to carry out FGM, but a current legal loophole means that the victim has to be a permanent UK resident for a prosecution to proceed.

It was estimated in 2011 that 137,000 survivors of FGM are living in the UK.