The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 made it unlawful to take girls abroad for genital mutilation and increased the maximum penalty for performing and procuring FGM from five to 14 years' imprisonment (Children Now, 10-16 March 2004).
The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, told Lords last week there were some on-going investigations but no prosecutions yet. However, prosecutions alone should not measure the Act's success, he said, as the aim was to prevent the practice occurring in the first place.
Faduma Hassan, women's health co-ordinator at Black Women's Health and Family Support, which provides advice on the health hazards of female genital mutilation, said the figures reflected lack of awareness of the issue. "You can't have a prosecution if you don't know about the cases," she said.
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