Police at Heathrow Airport in May arrested a woman disembarking from a flight from Sierra Leone, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit female genital mutilation (FGM). They placed a 13-year-old girl travelling with her into state care. The arrest came during a Metropolitan Police, Border Force and National Crime Agency initiative to prevent and detect FGM at airports.
FGM is a procedure that involves removing part or all of a girl's outer sexual organs. It affects girls from birth to 15 predominately in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Cases in the UK are rising because of increased migration from practicing nations. More than 20,000 girls aged under 15 could be at risk in England and Wales every year, according to a 2007 study by the Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (Forward).
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